BELGRADE, 19.06.2018. – Stefan Cvetkovic, a journalist for the northern town of Bela Crkva who was missing for 30-40 hours, told at a news conference that three men, two of them wearing masks, took him out of his car and held him “somewhere in the town.”
He said he had seen that one man had a badge similar to those worn by police officers, and a gun, before they allegedly put a hood on his head, adding they treated him well.
Cvetkovic said that eventually, after 30-40 hours the men asked him where they should take him. They left him close to the place he mentioned.
He added that the police did not find him, but that he called them.
Cvetkovic told reporters he received medical treatment because of slight dehydration and spent time from Friday to Sunday afternoon under police protection
He added he failed the polygraph when asked if he had worked for foreign service.
After his disappearance, media reported that he was often a target by the local politician and criminals and that he was branded a foreign mercenary.
In the meantime, local police from the Vojvodina town of Pancevo filed criminal charges against Cvetkovic for reporting a false abduction and illegal detention.
Local Prosecutor’s Office said “it had to investigate the charges, present all the evidence. Then Cvetkovic, as well as witlessness, would have to give statements in that respect, and eventually, it would be up to a court to decide whether he was guilty or innocent.”
In its earlier statement, the same Prosecutor Office said Cvetkovic was treated as a victim, not a suspect.