"Yesterday the police arrested a young man who has no record of criminal or minor offences," Interior Ministry spokesman Zlatko Mehun told Hina on Saturday, declining to reveal the suspect's identity or details of his arrest.
Jutarnji List daily identified the teenager as Branko B. The newspaper said in its Saturday issue that the man had been arrested in an Internet cafe in central Zagreb on Friday evening.
Mehun neither confirmed nor denied the report. He, however, confirmed that the man had admitted writing and sending letters signed by the alleged terrorist network called "The Raid on Politicians".
The spokesman added that the police for now had no information indicating that the man had a helper.
The young man is suspected of sending two threatening letters as well as an email that was sent to Hina on Friday, in which "The Raid on Politicians" threatened to carry out a terrorist attack in Croatia in the next 48 hours, saying that the target would be a railway or a monument.
After making all the necessary checks and discovering the address from which the message was sent on Friday morning, Hina's editors concluded that the content of the message was not credible and decided not to make it public. Hina informed the police, after which the suspect was arrested.
If found guilty of disseminating false and disturbing rumours and threats, the man faces a fine or a prison term not exceeding three years.