The Serbian Journalists’ Association (UNS) said on Thursday that it had been informed of the arrest of a local TV crew for failing to undergo disinfection, Beta reports.

The owner of the KTV station in Zrenjanin, Danijela Radic told the UNS that her station’s crew had been arrested under what she claims are false charges of not undergoing disinfection when entering that town’s city administration building.

Under the state of emergency called over the coronavirus pandemic, public administration and other institutions insist on masks and gloves.

A statement said that Radic’s son Danijel (who is also an MP in the Vojvodina provincial assembly) and cameraman Robert Bajtaj were planning to get a comment from Zrenjanin Mayor Sasa Santovac about a public auction for the rental of state-owned land during the state of emergency when gatherings have been banned.

“Farmers called and said that their lives are the priority, not the land and added that there would be more than 200 people at the auction,” Radic told UNS. She said the mayor’s spokesman called security to throw the TV crew out of the building even though they were wearing surgical masks and gloves.

“Two hours later, a dozen police officers surrounded our house. They had no court order and were demanding to see my son. They said they would search the house if he didn’t appear,” she is quoted as saying in the UNS statement. She added that the police seized a camera.