UN Special rapporteurs Irene Kahn and Gina Romero warned in a report that they received serious allegations of violations of freedom of expression in Serbia.
The report said that the journalists and media staff had been receiving threats in the broader context of the tragic collapse at the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November 2024, and the mass civil protests that ensued.
This is the full text of the report as sent to the Serbian government:
Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
26 November 2025
Excellency,
We have the honour to address you in our capacities as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 52/9 and 59/4.
In this connection, we would like to bring to the attention of your Excellency’s Government information we have received concerning alleged violations of freedom of expression in Serbia, including alleged pressure on media freedom, including alleged State pressure on removal of Ms. Aleksandra Subotic from her position as CEO of United Media, as well as threats and attacks against journalists and media workers themselves, including journalists from N1 television.
This pressure and the alleged threats and attacks have taken place in the broader context of the tragic collapse at the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November 2024, and the mass civil protests that have ensued. Related allegations have been addressed in previous communications by Special Procedure mandate holders in SRB 1/2025; SRB 2/2025; SRB 3/2025, and SRB 6/2025. We thank your Excellency’s Government for its replies to SRB 1/2025, SRB 2/2025 and look forward to receiving replies to the others, as well as the present letter. The Special Procedures had also sent letters to your Excellency’s Government expressing concern regarding threats and smear campaigns against journalists prior to these events, including SRB 2/2024, to which we also look forward to receiving a response.
We understand that since our last pronouncement on 4 August1, the situation surrounding the protests has intensified and amidst this, attacks and threats on independent media outlets, including direct attacks against journalists reporting on the situation have escalated.
According to the facts received:
Context
The Special Procedures have already expressed their concerns regarding the Government’s response to the mass protests that protests that have taken place across the country since the tragic infrastructure collapse at the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November 2024, and the surrounding events, including use of force and other methods of repression, arbitrary arrests, charges, and detentions of protestors, (SRB 2/2025, SRB 6/2025), use of spyware and public smear campaigns against journalists and human rights defenders, and concerns regarding pressure placed on prosecutors and other justice officials in Serbia.
In recent years, insults and threats, including death threats towards independent journalists have been on the rise in Serbia. This exists in a larger context of pressure on independent media in the country, including those outlets forming part of United Media, including N1 and Nova television networks.
Alleged State pressure on United Media and its entities
United Media is a leading media entity in Southeastern Europe with more than 55 television channels, 29 online portals, and several radio stations, daily newspapers and advertising agencies. Its entities are well regarded as sources of independent media, including in Serbia. United Media is part of the larger United Group, which is a leading telecommunications and media group in Southeastern Europe.2 In 2019, the British private equity firm BC Partners acquired a majority stake in the United Group from its founder, a Serbian businessman Dragan Solak, without major structural changes. In February 2025, a decision was made to sell off some of the United Group’s Balkans assets, which was followed by a change in leadership overseen by BC Partners in which founder Dragan Solak and then-CEO Viktoriya Boklag were dismissed, and current CEO Stan Miller was appointed in June.
United Media itself has faced pressure and allegedly been targeted by public officials, pro-government media, including tabloids, and persons affiliated with Serbia’s ruling parties. On 27 August, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), released an audio recording of a telephone conversation between the CEO of United Group, and the CEO of competitor Telekom Srrbija, which allegedly demonstrates direct influence in personnel changes and operations of United Media, by the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.3 During the call, the reduction of operations of United Media in Serbia was discussed. The removal of United Media CEO Aleksandra Subotic was also discussed, with reference to apparent governmental pressure for her removal. The findings of the OCCRP came after months of public speculation regarding possible government plans to weaken United Media outlets in Serbia. This includes a televised speech in February 2025, during which President Aleksandar Vučić referenced the shutting down of N1 News by November 2025, advising that many would be fired or change jobs.
Attacks on media freedom and journalists
While N1 journalists had received threats prior to November 2024, these threats, and even assaults against journalists have spiked since the fatal infrastructure collapse at the Novi Sad railway station and the protests that ensued, and their coverage of same. Since late June 2025 there has been an escalation of policing of protests, and in parallel, threats and attacks against journalists have even further increased in recent weeks while covering these events.
The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS) has reported 263 cases of attacks and threats on journalists and media outlets in 2025 to date, more than any other year in the last twenty-five years. This includes 101 physical attacks and 98 threats against the lives or physical safety of journalists. There were 33 incidents reported in the month of October alone.
Since 1 November 2024, there have been more than 40 documented attacks, both verbal and physical, against N1 and Nova journalists while carrying out their professional duties. The threats against them have been both online and offline, including threats of violence and death. Journalists now face almost daily threats and feel unsafe reporting in public spaces. They receive verbal abuse, such as being called scum, and threats such as references to possible shootings, which have been reported to the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office for Cybercrime.
Journalists from independent media outlets have been subjected to death threats on social media, where posts explicitly say, “death to journalists”, and even threatening murder of their children. Journalists have had their equipment taken and been surrounded by groups of men. On many occasions they have been hit and pushed and forced to stop reporting on rallies and protests. N1 reporters have been physically and verbally attacked, often by Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) supporters, including while trying to report on SNS rallies or visits of SNS politicians. While police have often been present when these attacks occur, they have not intervened. Though many of these attacks have been reported to the relevant authorities, including the Prosecutor’s Office, none have been sufficiently investigated, and no perpetrators have been identified nor sanctioned.
There have also been public pronouncements against the news channel and its reporters, made by public officials, up to the President, which are then reinforced by pro-government media outlets and tabloids. Public figures have even directly called for violence against N1 staff. Senior state officials have reportedly referred to independent media in the country as “terrorists”, “extremists, “enemies”, or “occupier media”, potentially emboldening or legitimizing threats and attacks against journalists.
As detailed in SRB 1/2025, on 11 March 2025, approximately one hundred individuals, including several public officials, blocked the N1 television building in Belgrade, preventing journalists and employees from carrying out their work freely. Public officials reportedly participated in this blockage. Although present, the police reportedly did not intervene to end the blockade.
At a press conference on 19 March 2025, Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić criticized N1’s reporting on unrest near the city assembly, saying that he was “done” with journalists from the United Media Group. Also on 19 March, President of the National Assembly, and former Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, publicly accused journalists from N1 and Nova of spreading lies and hatred.
N1 journalists have also reportedly been repeatedly denied entry to government briefings, to which other media has been granted entry, including when they have previously sent the requisite accreditation letters. This includes recent briefings by the Minister of Interior, which have been taking place on a weekly, at times even daily basis, in the months prior to drafting of this letter. N1 and other independent news media are denied the possibility of even asking questions, even when their channel, and other independent media outlets, have been criticized during such Government press briefings.
Late June 2025-Present, increased attacks and threats
Threats and attacks against N1 and its journalists have increased in since June 2025, including the following;
On 28 June 202, in Belgrade, during a mass protest in Belgrade, several students, journalists, human rights defenders, and citizens reportedly sustained serious injuries. An N1 camera assistant was struck with a police baton while lying on the ground in a yellow press vest, simultaneously identifying himself as a journalist. The incident occurred in Kneza Miloša Street after citizens allowed an ambulance to pass, while police refused to do so and began pushing the crowd toward the Kralja Milana intersection.
On 30 June, in Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vučić public referred to N1’s work as terrorism, stating “What Nova S and N1 are doing is pure terrorism and we are waiting to see what the prosecutor will say.”
On 3 July, a N1 journalist was presented with a white rabbit with a related threatening message (“raise rabbits, not lions”), from an individual who entered the N1 premises. Footage of this incident was later aired on a pro-government tabloid. This journalist had previously received an anonymous death threat via email, that included threatening language referring to the wiping out of everyone at N1 and those who support them. This threat was reported to the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office for Cybercrime.
On 11 July, N1’s newsroom received a letter with death threats referencing the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in January 2015, in which 12 journalists were killed. The letter accused N1 of spreading propaganda and conducting an “anti- Serbian campaign” and suggested its journalists may meet the same fate as those from Charlie Hebdo. This letter was reported to the Third Municipal Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, and a case was opened (Case #2534). However, no substantive progress reports nor findings have been communicated to N1.
On 25 July, Lazarevac, Miloš Veliki Highway blockade, while covering a protest live on air, an N1 reporter and a cameraman were assaulted by a member of the police. The cameraman was aggressively pushed away, despite already complying with police orders to leave the highway area. When he turned the camera toward the officer, the policeman tried to forcibly seize it but failed. The officer then left the scene.
On 10 August, in Vrbas, a group of individuals, wearing black shirts and caps, apparently associated with SNS activities, disrupted N1’s reporting team. A journalist and a cameraman were insulted with obscene curses, and family members were also targeted verbally. One of the aggressors, who was initially wearing a mask, threatened the team with a throat-slitting gesture.
On 12 August 2025, during protests in Vrbas, an N1 cameraperson was injured after being hit in the stomach and shoulder by stones that were thrown at him reportedly by ruling party (SNS) activists. The protest took place in front of the local SNS offices. A crowd, of apparent SNS activists gathered wearing black, including some wearing balaclavas and caps, and used fireworks, stones, and water bottles against protesters. They directed insults and death threats at the news crew. One individual made a threatening “slaughter” gesture, of slicing a throat to one N1 reporter, who was also subjected to verbal threats and obstructed from reporting by a laser pointer. The news crew was forced to stop reporting and to leave the scene. Police were present but did not intervene.
On 17 August, during a press conference, President Vučić advised the State will respond strongly to the protests in the coming days. Only questions from pro- government media were allowed and when an N1 reporter attempted to ask a question the President replied shaming N1 for what they do, calling them “media occupation platform”.
On 20 August, during a protest in front of a court in Belgrade, a police officer forcibly pushed an N1 reporter against a tree, pressing her hand until her phone, with which she was recording, was knocked away. The case was reported and is allegedly under review by the Ministry of Interior’s Internal Control Unit.
On 22 August, a disturbing gesture was made when garlic, a symbol of death, as well as a witch’s brew, candles, and a Bluetooth speaker playing a well- known Serbian song “A Sad Adio” (a sad goodbye), were left outside the N1 offices in Belgrade.
On 6 September, in the context of N1’s live coverage of a police operation in Novi Sad, President Vučić publicly stated he was waiting for the reaction of the prosecution (in light of the N1 coverage) and that appropriate measures would be taken if not.
Such incidents have continued in recent weeks, including on 11 October in various cities. Most recently, on 20 November, an N1 film crew was again physically attacked while filming near the National Assembly of Serbia. An individual approached the N1 crew demanding they stop filming. He then physically attacked them, taking their camera and throwing it on the ground several times, thereby destroying it. While police were there and informed, they did not intervene, only advising that another team would come. They did not take additional protection measures for the media workers, nor apprehend the individual. The subsequent team of police arrived 90 minutes after the incident, and allegedly conducted an onsite investigation and notified a prosecutor’s office.
Without wishing to prejudge the accuracy of the allegations above, we are concerned about the safety and well-being of journalists working for United Media, including N1, as well as other independent media outlets in the country. We are alarmed at the violent nature of the threats, which put journalists at serious risk. We are concerned that the threats appear to be directly related to their work as journalists and because of their critical views on government policies.
The above allegations also raise concerns about media freedoms more broadly, and if proven, demonstrate signs of interference in the independence of the media. They demonstrate a pattern of escalating attacks on journalists in the country, including N1 journalists, and a potentially deliberate narrative against an independent news organization, undertaken and promoted by State officials.
Violence, including threats, against journalists is unacceptable and contrary to Serbia’s obligations under international law. In addition to the chilling effect that this environment has on freedom of expression and democracy more broadly, it threatens thevery safety of journalists and media workers in Serbia.
Particularly worrisome is the fact that some of the above-mentioned attacks, including use of force by police, took place on journalists clearing undertaking their legitimate professional responsibilities, while wearing identifying press vests. In the report of her visit to Serbia in April 2023, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression already expressed concern regarding threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists and human rights defenders at the time, and called for stronger political commitment and institutional and policy reforms to address these problems.
The Special Procedures have already expressed their concerns regarding the Government’s response to the recent protests and the surrounding events, including use of force and other methods of repression, arbitrary arrests, charges, and detentions against protestors, (SRB 2/2025, SRB 6/2025), use of spyware and public smear campaigns against journalists and human rights defenders (SRB 1/2025), and concerns regarding pressure placed on prosecutors and other justice officials in Serbia (SRB 3/2025). With this letter, in addition to these earlier concerns, we wish to ensure that the escalating threats and attacks against independent journalists also be condemned.
These allegations denote possible violations, not only of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression of the media, but also of the public’s right to access information, which is even more critical during times of crisis such as these. The alleged public smear campaign against independent media and journalists, from even the highest levels of Government, raises serious concerns about the stigmatization of dissenting voices and the possible misuse of state power to suppress legitimate expression and provision of information.
In her country visit report, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression already expressed concern regarding the lack of sanctions of harmful speech by certain media outlets and the possibility of undue influence from political and commercial interests in Serbia. At that time, she already observed a lack ofaccountability for toxic verbal attacks, smear campaigns, intimidation and threats, including death threats and threats of sexual and gender-based violence, against journalists and human rights defenders.6
In her country visit report, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression expressed deep concern regarding toxic public discourse in Serbia, including its weaponization by politicians and populist media outlets.We reiterate this concern, which has contributed to the vilification of student protestors, journalists, and others critical of the government. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the end of his visit to the country in May 2025, also expressed concern about the rise in hate speech, and the targeting of various groups, including targeting of journalists and smear campaigns against media workers, and the engagement of high- level state officials in hateful rhetoric. 8 Similarly, during his 2022 visit to the country, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence also expressed concern about a rise in radicalization and hate crimes, as well as threats and attacks against journalists and human rights defenders.
Similar to our concerns stated in SRB 1/2025, SRB 2/2025, and SRB 6/2025, we continue to be alarmed by reports of restrictions on the several rights, including freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful assembly, inter alia, including the recent reported increase in threats and attacks against journalists, and the stigmatization of journalists, along with students, human rights defenders, and other civil society actors. We are concerned at the labelling of media outlets and journalists as “terrorists” by other media outlets, and government representatives, up to the President himself. We reiterate that, in addition to appearing contrary to the presumption of innocence under article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, this risks having a chilling effect on the exercise of protected rights and freedoms.
We also raise our concern about the impunity of the alleged perpetrators. Despite reports of the above-mentioned threats and attacks to the relevant Prosecutor’s Offices and the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office for Cybercrime in Belgrade, reports indicate that no decisive action has been taken to conduct thorough investigations, arrest the perpetrators, nor to provide the journalists with adequate protection.
These allegations, in addition to those concerns laid out in the previous communications sent by the Special Procedures in recent months raise serious concerns regarding the respect for democratic principles and the broader enjoyment of the fundamental human rights of persons in Serbia.
We call upon Your Excellency’s Government to uphold the highest international law standards in the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, to comply with its own laws and policies and its international obligation to prohibit incitement to violence, hostility and discrimination, as set out in article 20 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, discourage toxic public discourse and promote an environment conducive to safe, healthy and diverse public debate. and to ensure all such threats against journalists are stopped and that concrete steps are taken to ensure they do not materialize into any further attacks.
In connection with the above alleged facts and concerns, please refer to the Annex on Reference to international human rights law attached to this letter which cites international human rights instruments and standards relevant to these allegations.
As it is our responsibility, under the mandates provided to us by the Human Rights Council, to seek to clarify all cases brought to our attention, we would be grateful for your observations on the following matters:
- Please provide any additional information and/or comment(s) you may have on the above-mentioned allegations.
- Please provide steps taken by your Excellency’s Government to investigate serious threats against N1 journalists, including those reported to the threatening letter received by N1 referencing Charlie Hebdo (Case #2534, Third Municipal Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade), the attack on the N1 film crew on 20 November in Belgrade, as well as other reports made to Prosecutor’s Offices and the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office for Cybercrime, inter alia, regarding threats and attacks against N1 journalists.
- Please provide detailed information on any investigations initiated into alleged acts committed by law enforcement officers against journalists during the protests, including reports of excessive use of force. Kindly specify the number of such investigations, their current status, and any outcomes or disciplinary measures taken
- Please outline whether any protection measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of N1 journalists and United Media employees, while they continue to receive the above-mentioned threats, including death threats.
- Please provide information on measures taken to ensure that civil society, independent media outlets and journalists are able to carry out their activities including their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, in an enabling environment, free from threats, intimidation and attacks, including through the work of its Standing Working Group on the Safety of Journalists.
- Please provide information regarding the implementation of Serbia’s Strategy for the Development of the Public Information System (2020- 2025), in particular its measures to improve the situation of journalists, as well as implementation of the Law on Public Information and Media and the new Law on Electronic Media (26 October 2023).
- Please provide detailed information into measures taken by the Government to ensure the independence of the media, including independent media outlets such as N1, in Serbia.
This communication and any response received from your Excellency’s Government will be made public via the communications reporting website within 60 days. They will also subsequently be made available in the usual report to be presented to the Human Rights Council.
While awaiting a reply, we urge that all necessary interim measures be taken to halt the alleged violations and prevent their re-occurrence and in the event that the investigations support or suggest the allegations to be correct, to ensure the accountability of any person(s) responsible for the alleged violations.
We may publicly express our concerns in the near future as, in our view, the information upon which the press release will be based is sufficiently reliable to indicate a matter warranting immediate attention. We also believe that the wider public should be alerted to the potential implications of the above-mentioned allegations. The press release will indicate that we have been in contact with your Excellency’s Government’s to clarify the issue/s in question.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration.
Irene Khan
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Gina Romero
Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
Source: N1
