Different rules for holding celebrations: Citizens run the risk of being jailed for violating the measures!

A host who knowingly organizes the celebration of Arandjelovdan and the celebrations that come with a larger number of people than prescribed, risks being held liable under the Penal Code with a sentence of three years in prison.

This is what Tamara Stojčević, a member of the working group that worked on the amendments to the Law on Protection of the Population against Infectious Diseases, which recently came into force, says for Sputnik.

Will you report the neighbors if they do not comply with the measures?

This law, among other things, provides for fines of 50,000 to 150,000 dinars for a natural person who organizes a celebration contrary to the current restrictions. The amount of the fine is determined by the offense judge, because in this case no offense order is issued.

Arandjelovdan celebration amid the epidemic wave

This year, Arandjelovdan falls at the worst possible moment regarding the coronavirus epidemic in Serbia. Breaking the record every day in all parameters leads authorities to think again about reaching new restrictions.

In accordance with current regulations, the celebration can be held with the presence of up to five people, and any citizen may report a violation of this rule through the single contact center of the Coordinating Commission for Supervision and Supervision.

– It can even be a crime, it can also be a criminal complaint to the competent prosecutor. It depends on the case. Because the person who does the organized meeting does it very consciously, not to disrespect the measures, but to endanger people’s lives. So, it is definitely a crime of article 248 of the Penal Code, and it is not a fine of five thousand, but it would be a request to the misdemeanor judge to organize the event where the infection occurred or may occur – says Stojčević.

He adds that the complaint of violations of organized celebrations can be made by calling the nearest police station, the communal inspection, because everyone will be on duty during the weekend. There is also a Viber number on the website of the Ministry of Health where citizens can submit evidence in the form of a photo or video of the events they are reporting.

For the extraordinary control of the weekend

According to our interlocutor, those in charge of controlling the observance of the epidemiological measures, in addition to visiting the catering establishments that have so far shown that they do not respect the measures, will this time have emergency plans, considering Arandjelovdan and the weekend.

– In smaller places, you know who celebrates and how they celebrate. And in Belgrade, it will rely primarily on citizen reports. Then it would be our obligation to report something like that when we know it – he says.

The priests consecrate the cake in various terms.

Judging by Sputnik interlocutors, a large number of citizens decide to celebrate in the closest circle of the family, only those who are members of the household, and the measures taken by the priests to avoid the gathering of more people in one place are they refer to the consecration of cakes and cereals in some appointments, even in a few days.

According to the data of our interlocutor, who is also the Deputy Secretary-General of the Government of Serbia, relatively few sanctions have been drawn up for individuals since the start of the implementation of the new Law on Protection of Residents against Infectious Diseases. The most punished were those responsible within the legal entities, or legal entities that did not comply with the restrictions regarding the number of people in a place, the distance between tables in catering facilities and the like.

When it comes to respecting the prohibition to work in catering facilities after 9 pm, it was noted that this measure is respected in 95 percent of the cases.