Interior Minister Ivica Dacic: Jet ski driver who targeted children on Tamis charged with attempted murder

Photo: Serbian MUP

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Thursday that 29-year-old Milan Jakovljevic got arrested yesterday and immediately placed in police custody that can last up to 48 hours.

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Jakovljevic is suspected of attacking children and their coach during a kayaking training session on the Tamis River in Pancevo.

"Regarding the incident on the Tamis River, that person was arrested on the same day and detained for up to 48 hours. He is located in the Pancevo jail," said Dacic, reacting to certain media reports alleging that the police did not act immediately.

The minister emphasized that Milan Jakovljevic has been charged with the criminal offense of attempted murder.

"I am urging everyone to stop making up and disseminating misinformation," he added.

The incident happened on Tuesday evening on the Tamis River in the town of Pancevo, northeast of Belgrade, during a training session of the young members of the Pancevo Kajak-Kanu (Kayak-Canoe) Club.

According to eyewitnesses, Milan Jakovljevic was driving a jet ski at high speed, deliberately directing it toward a group of children aged five to ten, overturning their kayaks, and causing panic.

Coach Nenad Mikovic jumped into the river to try to protect the children, but the suspect then tried to hit him as well with the watercraft. The children suffered minor physical injuries, but have also been severely traumatized.

Milan Jakovljevic will be brought before the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Pancevo today for questioning. Immediately upon his arrest, the jet ski was confiscated for examination.

(Telegraf.rs)