PODGORICA, 16.04.2020. – The European Union has urged to the Montenegrin authorities to strike a balance between promoting freedom of expression and proportional treatment in an effort to avoid the spread of panic and misinformation during a corona virus pandemic.
This was reported by European Commission (EC) spokeswoman Ana Pisonero, responding to numerous arrests in Montenegro because the spread of panic, by posting false information about the corona virus via social networks.
“Freedom of expression is a core value of the EU and a key element of Montenegro’s EU accession process”, Pisonero warned in a statement to Radio Free Europe.
In Montenegro, there have been a series of arrests of private individuals who posted false information on their accounts through social networks.
The latest case was reported this Sunday, when Radovan Rakocevic from Bijelo Polje, was arrested for sharing news from a tabloid form Serbia stating that “Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic was infected with a coronavirus”.
Rakocevic was sentenced to 72 hours’ detention but released after investigative authorities rejected a motion to order custody.