The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that two people have been arrested on suspicion of committing a criminal offense - organizing participation in a war or armed conflict in a foreign country.
"The arrested LP (1988) and SS (1978) are accused of organizing combat-tactical training for citizens of Moldova and Romania, which, as suspected, was aimed at training them to more effectively provide physical resistance to Moldovan police officers in the event of riots during the election day in that country, scheduled for September 28 this year," the statement reads.
They were arrested by members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, the Criminal Police Directorate - Anti-Terrorism Service, in cooperation with the Security and Information Agency (BIA) and the competent prosecutor's offices.
LP is suspected of organizing and financing the training, which was conducted in a catering facility near Loznica, while SS is accused of assisting him in this.
The Serbian Ministry of Interior adds that the training was allegedly conducted between July 16 and September 12 for between 150 and 170 citizens of Moldova and Romania.
"During the search of the suspects' apartment, the police seized laptops, mobile phones, as well as a device for detecting and monitoring radio-frequency signals, while a pistol was also seized from the suspect SS, for which he is also charged with the criminal offense of illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosives," the statement reads.
They said that, after launching an investigation into the case, the Serbian Ministry of Interior will request information and evidence from Moldova through international legal assistance in order to further the proceedings.
The suspects have been ordered to be detained for up to 48 hours, after which they will be brought to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Šabac with a criminal complaint.
Vice President of the Freedom and Justice Party, Marinika Tepić, asked earlier today, regarding the announcement by Moldovan President Maja Sandu that Russia was undermining the elections on Sunday in that country and that the Russian service was training people in Serbia to incite mass riots, whether the state of Serbia was involved in this, if it is true that the training was organized and financed by Lazar Popović, presented as an advisor to Minister Nenad Popović.
"Due to the risk of an international scandal and another embarrassment for Serbia for having pro-Russian paramilitary camps to cause crises and overthrow the constitutional order in other countries - I am requesting urgent information from the Prosecutor's Office in Šabac whether it is true that the paramilitary camp was in the Sunčana Reka complex, between Loznica and Banja Koviljača, where at least 150 pro-Russian foreign citizens were trained, and the 'final work' is scheduled for Sunday, September 28th - in the event of an unfavorable election result for the pro-Russian current in Moldova," she wrote at the time in a post on Iksu.
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