COVID death data hidden ahead of the elections

Category: Victims of negligence

Period: 19 Mar 2020 – 12 Oct 2021

Outcome: Under investigation (as of Sep 2020)

The day after the June 2020 elections, BIRN published data from the Covid19 system showing that 632 coronavirus-positive patients died between 19 March and 1 June, while 244 deaths were announced. In the run-up to the elections there were 300 to 340 new infections a day, but no more than 97 were reported. In 2021, a commission of the Ministry of Health linked the deaths of 10,356 people in 2020 to covid, three times the published figure. After a criminal complaint was filed against the prime minister, the health minister and four doctors from the Crisis Staff, the prosecutor's office sought information from the Ministry of Health itself; no record of an investigation was found.

Data from the Covid19 system

In June 2020, the day after the parliamentary elections, BIRN published data from the state Covid19 information system showing that 632 coronavirus-positive patients died in Serbia between 19 March and 1 June 2020, while the official figure announced was 244. According to the same data, new infections in the final days before the elections ranged between 300 and 340 a day, while the highest officially reported figure was 97.

The elections were held on 21 June, six weeks after the state of emergency was lifted and measures were eased. The Ministry of Health, the Crisis Staff and the Batut Institute did not respond to BIRN.

The authorities' response

President Vučić called the article hypocritical, while Prime Minister Brnabić and members of the Crisis Staff attributed the discrepancy to methodology. Brnabić later admitted errors in data entry, but not a cover-up.

In September 2020, Crisis Staff member Predrag Kon said that three times as many people had died by June as had been reported, and shifted the blame onto IT staff; Vučić announced a review.

The real numbers and who had them

On 1 October 2020, BIRN reported that the system had been working, that the Batut Institute sent data to the Ministry of Health and the Government every day, and that aides to the prime minister and the health minister had access to the real figures.

In 2021, a Ministry of Health commission announced that the deaths of 10,356 people in 2020 were linked to covid, three times the 3,130 that had been published; according to BIRN, that figure came from death certificates that already existed in 2020.

Criminal complaint

A criminal complaint against the prime minister, the health minister and four doctors from the Crisis Staff was filed in late June 2020 by Marinika Tepić and lawyer Vladimir Todorić. The First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade sought information from the Ministry of Health, even though the health minister was among those named in the complaint; no record that an investigation was opened was found.

Kragujevac Clinical Centre

Even after the elections, the number of covid deaths in Kragujevac remained unknown. In March 2020, local newsrooms wrote an open letter asking the Kragujevac Clinical Centre for regular updates, saying it was giving information only to certain media outlets. According to the Beta news agency, by September the Clinical Centre had announced the number of deaths only a few times, six in mid-July.

Asked by Beta for the total number of patients treated and deaths, acting director Predrag Sazdanović replied that he could not answer because of „undefined criteria“, and the Ministry of Health did not respond. According to Glas Šumadije, 59 deceased were transported from the Clinical Centre in metal coffin liners in July alone. In 2021, Sazdanović became a state secretary at the Ministry of Health.

Participants

Aleksandar Vučić: Called BIRN's article hypocritical, said he trusted the Crisis Response Team's data and announced a review of every death (commented on the case)
Ana Brnabić: According to a criminal complaint, as head of the Crisis Response Team she gave false figures on deaths and infections ahead of the elections (responsible)
Zlatibor Lončar: According to a criminal complaint, he gave false figures on the number of deaths, while the ministry received the real numbers every day (responsible)
Predrag Kon: According to the criminal complaint by Tepić and Todorić, as a member of the Crisis Response Team he gave false figures on deaths and infections (responsible)
Darija Kisić Tepavčević: According to the criminal complaint by Tepić and Todorić, as a member of the Crisis Response Team she gave false figures on deaths and infections (responsible)
Srđa Janković: He said that not every person who died after testing positive died of COVID and that the data should be compared (commented on the case)
Verica Jovanović: She signed a reply stating that 244 patients had died by 1 June, while the Covid19 system, run by Batut, recorded 632 (responsible)
“Dr Milan Jovanović Batut” Institute of Public Health of Serbia: In response to a freedom of information request, he said that 244 patients had died by 1 June, although the Covid19 system he runs had recorded 632 (responsible)
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia: It received the real daily death figures from Batut, while the numbers released to the public were as low as a third of them (responsible)
First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade: Acting on a complaint forwarded to it, it asked the Ministry of Health for information, even though the complaint also covers the minister (investigation and courts)
BIRN: It reported that more people had died in the Covid19 system than officially stated, and that there were more new infections in the run-up to the elections (oversight and the public)
Milorad Ivanović: He said doctors had reported the deaths, but that someone else had decided to hide the real data (oversight and the public)
Marinika Tepić: She filed a criminal complaint against members of the Crisis Staff, and then a follow-up urging action because the complaint had gone unanswered (oversight and the public)
People's Party: She announced a criminal complaint against those responsible in the Crisis Staff for covering up the number of infections and deaths (oversight and the public)
Svetlana Jovanović: She was reportedly the main contact for technical questions about the Covid19 system; she says she never saw the data (commented on the case)
Marko Jovanović: According to BIRN's findings, he built the Covid19 information system; he did not respond to BIRN's attempts to contact him (commented on the case)
Nikola Pandrc: According to BIRN's sources, he had access to data from the Covid19 system; he says he took no part in any organisation (commented on the case)
Predrag Sazdanović: As acting director of the Kragujevac Clinical Centre, he refused a journalist's request for the total number of COVID deaths at the institution (responsible)
University Clinical Centre Kragujevac: He did not publish the total number of COVID deaths and refused a journalist's request for the data (responsible)