Prosecutor handling 337 Covid-related criminal cases

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) handled 337 criminal cases related to the pandemic. Many of these involved charges pressed against people for coughing or spitting at police or other people with a public task, claiming to be infected with Covid-19, the OM said on Monday.

In 102 of the 337 cases, police officers were the victim. Healthcare workers and enforcement officers were targeted in 65 cases, and in 11 cases the victims were public transport personnel. Most cases, 186 of them, involved threats. 47 cases involved actual violence.

In 253 of these criminal cases, the suspect was summoned to court. The OM offered a settlement agreement, involving a fine and community service for example, to 13 suspects. 39 cases were dropped, mainly due to lack of evidence. In the other cases, the OM is still considering what to do.

In addition to these criminal cases, the OM received approximately 23,300 written reports about violations of the measures in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As of September 13, `17,200 fines were imposed for these violations. Since June 1, there were 1,641 fines for violating the mandatory mask rule on public transport. Since March 16, appeals were filed against 6,872 coronavirus fines.

Some of the reports on violations are still being processed. A number were sent back to the reporter, usually an enforcement officer, for more detail.