On Wednesday, Serbian police arrested six people suspected of preparing violence against the police and political opponents, ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election. Prosecutors, cited by Mediafax through Reuters. An arrest. Not a conviction. Dump Mediafax.

Five, in Novi Sad. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office: they had “incited and encouraged the overthrow of the highest state authorities by force.” They had recruited people they meant to bring to Belgrade on polling day, to attack opponents and officers. That is the charge. It is not a verdict.

The sixth person, in Belgrade. Prosecutors: he was training mobile teams for physical clashes, as if “preparing for war.” Two places. Six people. Do not mix them with other detentions the same day. Tanjug, from the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s statement: the five from Novi Sad are held for 48 hours, then a hearing in Belgrade. Forty-eight hours is not a sentence. Tanjug counted five. Mediafax, six. Stay with six for the total, five plus one.

Tanjug: the order came from Belgrade, with the Novi Sad higher prosecutor, the BIA, police in both cities and the special anti-terrorist unit. Figures of 40 or 80–90 people sit in the same statement, as one suspect’s plan. That is an estimate in the file. It is not a tally. It is not proven in court.

Mediafax: Aleksandar Vučić resigned the presidency last month and called a snap vote after 18 months of student-led protests. He wants the premiership. Sunday’s contest is framed as tight, between his list and the students’. Context. It is not proof of the plot. It is not the result of the ballot.

Dump Mediafax. The rewrite rests on Mediafax and on Tanjug, from the Higher Public Prosecutor’s statement.

Image: Novi Sad City Hall, 8 November 2023, Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The city hall, not Wednesday’s arrests.

Sources consulted: Five arrested for planning violence, unrest on election day in Serbia — Tanjug.