14.03.2025

Fifteen attacks against Dinko Gruhonjić have been documented on the MFRR platform since 14 March 2024, when a manipulated video was released falsely portraying him as a political opponent. The majority of these attacks (80%) were threatening and intimidating, including an unprecedented level of death threats sent online and written on his house. Smear campaigns by media tabloids were further amplified by public figures with close ties to the government. The video has been used numerous times to discredit the journalist’s work, including by former Prime Minister Vučević, who stepped down. Gruhonjić has experienced a hostile climate at the Novi Sad University, where his students have also been threatened. In addition, Gruhonjić faced two criminal complaints for ‘hate speech’, along with NDNV President Ana Lalić Hegediš, who was sent death threats as well.

“For 15 days, I became the ‘main story’ on regime-controlled media, effectively the subject of a ‘manhunt’. For the first time in my 35 years of living in Novi Sad, strangers confronted and insulted me on the street, and I faced direct physical threats. Despite this, the Serbian police have provided no protection,” said Dinko Gruhonjić for the 2024 Europe Press Freedom Report of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform.

One year later, alarmingly, none of the threats reported to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crimes (VTK) has been prosecuted, and the threats persist.

As a prime example, on 16 February 2025, Gruhonjić received seven frightening Facebook messages in a single day from different accounts. They include threats of sexual violence, as well as death threats, warning the journalist that his throat will soon be “cut” and his “bones will be broken”. Two of the messages also threatened to “destroy” the lives of Gruhonjić’s family members. The Safe Journalists Network (SJN), which has been closely following Gruhonjić’s case, reported similar threats the day before on its website. The offices of the NDNV have also been broken into recently, with no action taken by the authorities despite footage of the perpetrators.

Amidst increasing threats against journalists for reporting on student protests and political instability following the fatal collapse of the Novi Sad railway roof, pressures against Gruhonjić and his son, who is based in Croatia, have intensified. In this context, Gruhonjić saw no other choice but to seek protection for his son from the Croatian authorities.

The culture of impunity, deeply entrenched in Serbia, has made journalists distrust law enforcement authorities. Such an environment discourages reporting and goes a long way to legitimise such ad hominem attacks without fear of accountability. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in the country and provide support to journalists in need, as well as call for accountability from the authorities.

The undersigned organisations reiterate their full support for journalist Dinko Gruhonjić and once again urge the authorities, who are aware of all the threats and the identities of many of the perpetrators, to thoroughly investigate all threats and ensure justice without delay.

This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.

In the aftermath of the deadly collapse of the roof of the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November 2024, journalists have come under unacceptable pressure while covering the tragic story and the subsequent protests. The majority of incidents logged on the Mapping Media Freedom platform are instances of verbal abuse and physical assault against journalists and media workers. Of the 22 incidents documented between November 2024 and February 2025, five attacks were initiated by state officials, including Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his ruling SNS party.

Some of the most serious attacks include a death threat sent to Ana Lalić Hegediš, the Executive Director of the Independent Journalists Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), on her Facebook page in November 2024. On 17 January 2025,  NDNV, whose premises had recently been broken into, reported that police had forcibly removed five journalists from the Novi Sad City Hall to prevent them from documenting an opposition-led protest from inside the building. 

On 15 February 2025, Ksenija Pavkov, N1 journalist, received death threats and abuse while reporting about an SNS rally in Sremska Mitrovica. On 24 February 2025, private security at the Novi Sad City Assembly – acting on the orders of Assembly President Dina Vučinić – searched journalists, restricted their movement, and locked them in a press room until the end of the conference.

Our organisations further note with alarm raids by Serbian police against non-governmental organisations (NGOs) critical of the government conducted on 25 February 2025. The government has portrayed what is happening in the country as a “coloured revolution”, with NGOs allegedly being paid by foreign states to destabilise the country. 

The Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), which runs the fact-checking website Istinomer, an important source of verified information for Serbian citizens, was among the organisations raided without a warrant. These raids, based on unverified claims by individuals within the U.S government about alleged misuse of USAID funds, mark a new level of intimidation on those reporting the truth, with media outlets and media NGOs potentially next.

Such acts are a clear violation of press freedom and freedom of expression. They reflect an institutionalised landscape in which violence against journalists and activists is tolerated and encouraged by official rhetoric constantly portraying the press and NGOs as enemies of the state.

The MFRR and SJN call on the authorities to refrain from targeting the media and NGOs and to stop inciting hostility to prevent the safety of journalists from further deteriorating. The undersigned organisations also call for thorough and independent investigations into any violence against members of the press, including those allegedly perpetrated by police and private security agencies.

At a crucial time, when truth and accurate reporting are more vital than ever, the MFRR and the Safe Journalists Network will continue to closely monitor the developments in Serbia and stand in full solidarity with Serbian civil society and journalists targeted for reporting the truth.

This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.

In the report “A Digital Prison”: Surveillance and the Suppression of Civil Society in Serbia” published on 16 December 2024, Amnesty International revealed that mobile forensic products made by the Israeli company Cellebrite were being used by the Serbian authorities to extract data from the phones of journalists and activists, while new Serbian spyware, “NoviSpy”, had been developed to infect devices and capture confidential information, including contact lists, which were then uploaded to a government-controlled server.

According to Amnesty International, Cellebrite technology, widely used by police and intelligence agencies worldwide to unlock devices and search for evidence, was given to Serbia in 2019 as part of an aid package to help the country meet EU integration requirements. Amnesty International asked for comments from the Serbian government ahead of the publication but has not received a response.

Among the dozens of testimonies, collected with BIRN’s contribution, from activists and journalists whose phones were hacked during detentions and interrogations by Serbian police is the case of Slaviša Milanov, a journalist for FAR portal. On 21 February 2024, Milanov was traveling to the city of Pirot when he was arrested and taken to a police station, on the pretext of conducting a breathalyser test. Upon entering the police station, Milanov was ordered to leave his phone and personal belongings at the police reception. After his drug test came back negative, plainclothes police officers sent him to a second police station, where he was questioned on suspicion of transporting wanted persons across the Bulgarian border, which Milanov denied. The journalist was then questioned over his work.

“After his release, Slaviša noticed that his phone, which he had left at the police station reception during his interrogation, appeared to have been tampered with, and his phone data was turned off. He requested Amnesty International’s Security Lab to conduct a forensic analysis of his phone (…). The analysis revealed that Cellebrite’s UFED product was used to secretly unlock Slaviša’s phone during his detention,” declared Amnesty, before adding that additional forensic evidence confirmed NoviSpy was also used by the Serbian authorities to infect Milanov’s phone.

We urge the Serbian authorities to conduct a thorough, impartial, and independent investigation into the alleged use of spyware against journalists, which is prohibited as a criminal offense under the Serbian Criminal Code. The MFRR consortium also calls on the government to strengthen protections for journalists’ freedom of expression, privacy, and sources, as guaranteed under international human rights law. Transparency and oversight of the secret services are essential to prevent further violations of journalists’ rights.

Under the 2023 EU Recommendation on the investigation of the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware, the use of spyware by law enforcement should only be authorised in exceptional cases, for a predefined purpose, and for a limited time. Journalists’ data should be protected from surveillance unless there is evidence of criminal activity.

In addition, the MFRR partners echo Amnesty’s call to EU key institutions to prioritise the development of an EU framework addressing threats to fundamental rights posed by spyware applicable also to the candidate countries. This must include rigorous accountability mechanisms for state surveillance practices in line with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) as well as an EU-wide ban on the production, export, sale, import, acquisition, transfer, servicing, and use of spyware, which disproportionately interferes with those rights.

No “digital prison” must be created and allowed to operate freely as a tool to repress and silence journalists and civil society representatives for their work of public interest.

This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries and Ukraine.

KRIK is currently facing 16 Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), vexatious legal actions intended to intimidate the defendants rather than seek justice. Two of these, whose trial began recently, were initiated by Appellate Court Judge Dušanka Đorđević and her husband Aleksandar, a lawyer engaged by the Ministry of Finance. 

The couple accuses KRIK’s Stevan Dojčinović and Bojana Pavlović of data protection violations, after the journalists published details about Judge Đorđević’s assets and career in an award winning database aiming to increase transparency in the judiciary. According to KRIK, all the data was lawfully obtained from publicly accessible sources.

The plaintiffs seek penalties of €6,500 in damages, 10-month prison sentences, and 2-year bans on journalism for the accused journalists. Any conviction would set a dangerous precedent and severely undermine press freedom. 

The lawsuits exhibit all the characteristics of SLAPPs, as they seem to aim to intimidate the journalists rather than addressing legitimate legal concerns.

The MFRR consortium believes that the case is part of a broader campaign to silence KRIK for its investigative journalism. The outcome will be a test for the Serbian judiciary’s independence and commitment to the rule of law. It will also be a test of the judiciary’s ability to provide a fair trial and to ensure that the presiding judges are not unduly influenced by their colleagues bringing the case. 

A guilty verdict will have a terrible chilling effect on the media and potentially spell the end of investigative public interest journalism in the country. 

We stand in solidarity with KRIK and its journalists. The MFRR believes that this case presents all the features of a SLAPP and the relevant EU provisions, including early dismissal, should be taken into account by the judiciary. Furthermore, our consortium calls on the Serbian authorities to refer to the Council of Europe’s Recommendation on countering the use of SLAPPs, aligning domestic safeguards to prevent similar cases in the future with international human rights standards.

The MFRR will continue to monitor the case closely, to advocate for the public’s right to hold power accountable and against the erosion of independent journalism.

This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries and Ukraine.