In February 2026, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) recorded a total of 32 incidents involving journalists and media workers. The data include 8 actual attacks on journalists, 8 cases of threats against the life and physical safety of journalists and 5 other threats against journalists. In addition, 3 threats against media outlets and 8 attacks on media outlets and organisations were documented. Throughout the month, serious threats against journalists and media continued, as did media smear campaigns that further endanger the safety of journalists and media professionals. Incidents involving attacks on journalists while reporting from public events and protests were again recorded, with police involved in some cases.
Threats against journalists and media
A continuing trend from previous months has been the targeting of journalists and editors from the weekly Radar with serious threats. The first threats in the observed month were posted on 12 February as a comment on Radar’s website under Milan Ćulibrk’s article “For Rafales, Six Times More Money Than for All Capital Investments.” Alongside hate speech and the most severe insults, the comment clearly contained threats of violence: “…I’ll f*** your Ustaša mother, Ćulibrk’s too, you Ustaša scum – we’ll wipe you out so that such scum never sprouts again. We’ll wipe you out, be sure of it; it won’t be long before that happens.”
Family members of Radar columnist Predrag Simonović received disturbing phone calls shortly after midnight on the night between 14 and 15 February, including calls to a minor child. The content of the calls was bizarre, vulgar and extremely distressing, containing elements of sexually explicit harassment. Such actions constitute a serious attack on the family’s privacy, safety and dignity, and represent an attempt to intimidate the journalist through his closest relatives. In addition, on 18 February Radar published Simonović’s text “Are You on the List – A Speech by the Frozen Danube,” and that same morning a person signing as “Duki” posted a comment that the columnist, in light of previous incidents, understood as a threat to his safety.
During a protest in Surdulica on 14 February, journalist Dejana Cvetković was subjected to sexist insults, publicly called out, and warned that certain individuals had her phone number. Some individuals also threatened and sexually harassed her, forcing her to withdraw from the reporting location. She was additionally targeted with threats and insults in a separate Viber group used by citizens to share information about events in Surdulica. Her profile and photos were shared there, and some members posted insults, threats and calls for lynching.
Following this, InfoVranjske editor Mihajlo Stojković, after reporting on the threats against his colleague Dejana Cvetković, received a call from an unknown number. He was sworn at, and an unknown voice said that he and Dejana “should be f***ed up,” and that “his child should be killed so he can see what it feels like.”
On 20 February, the Jugpress newsroom received a message via Messenger from an account using the name “Zoran Stojanović – Šote,” which included insults as well as threats of violence. The message states: “Your Ustaša mouth is the one you support, the Ustaša are destroying the church, the priests are desecrating the 200th anniversary, Serbian Russia would put you into a mine and bury you so the infection doesn’t spread. I f*** everything you have, both the living and the dead. If I were in power.”
The authors of the show “Dobar, loš, zao” (Good, Bad, Evil), Marko Vidojković and Nenad Kulačin, received extremely serious threats on Instagram, including messages advocating brutal violence: “Wow, this one should be killed with a sledgehammer. It’s a shame to waste a bullet. But a proper 7–8 kg sledgehammer.” This was followed by another message from the account “sekidragan”: “No, he would die immediately from that sledgehammer. A wooden hammer would be better for him, a light one, so he should be hit 100 times before he dies.” In addition to these messages, other posts also contained threats of death, sexual violence, torture, and abuse directed at them.
In the period from February 22 to February 23, journalist Jovana Gligorijević continuously received a large number of insults and threats following a post on the social network X (Twitter).
Attacks on journalists during protests in Novi Sad and Belgrade
Žarko Bogosavljević, a journalist and editor at Razglas News, was physically attacked at an event in Novi Sad during a protest by students and citizens in front of the Serbian National Theatre, where a “ceremonial academy” marking 200 years since the founding of Matica srpska was being held. In a video circulating on social media, Bogosavljević can be heard repeatedly identifying himself as a journalist and stressing that he was there to do his job, yet this did not prevent the assailant from attacking him. Police were present nearby but once again failed to respond.
At the same event, a group of journalists from Reuters, Odjek and Storyteller were pushed and subjected to aggression. All of them were clearly marked with press identification. Particularly concerning is the fact that the attack happened in the presence of the police, without a timely and effective response.
After the protest an unknown person sent threats to journalists via Instagram messages. Journalist Lazar Dinić received threats against his life and bodily integrity accompanied by insults: “Ustaša, your end is near. I will f*** your Ustaša whore mother.”At the same time, journalist Ivan Bjelić received messages containing threats and insults: “Ustšha c**t, I will find you. You will scream like a pig. I will f**k everything you have, living and dead. You Ustaša son of a b****. I will rip out your Ustaša heart and cut you into pieces. Tick-tock, keyboard warriors.”
During a protest in New Belgrade, in the park in front of the former Hotel Jugoslavija, where an aquarium construction project opposed by citizens is planned, on 16 February, a journalist from the portal Mašina was obstructed and prevented from filming by police officers. One police officer did not allow her to film or approach the site, physically blocking her passage. He also addressed her verbally, claiming she was interfering with police work, while simultaneously preventing her from continuing to film and from approaching the location of the incident.
At the same protest, student photojournalist Luka Pešić was chased twice by police officers. The first time was in the Ušće park area, when police chased protesting citizens, and the second time near the Faculty of Agriculture, around 400 metres away from the protest site. In this action as well, police were chasing citizens, but the impression was that they were deliberately also chasing photojournalist Pešić.
On the same occasion, photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić was obstructed by police twice. In the first instance, police officers pushed him without any explanation while he was filming and photographing events. At that moment, Andrić had clear press identification displayed. Later in the evening, while Andrić was filming police conduct during the arrest of protesters, a member of the Gendarmerie physically lunged at him. When the photojournalist identified himself as a journalist, the officer stepped away; however, after Andrić requested the officer’s identification, the officer swore at him. We note that recordings from the protest also capture police officers using extremely vulgar profanity during the intervention and the detention of citizens.
After the protest, Nada Gladović, a journalist from the YouTube channel Srbin Info, and journalist Darko Simić were held inside a cordon of Police Brigade officers while trying to film the seizure of citizens’ motorcycles after the protest ended. When they attempted to film the police action from close range, members of the Gendarmerie surrounded them and held them for about an hour. The journalists were released only after intervention by a superior officer from one of the police units in Belgrade.
During the protest on 28 February in New Belgrade regarding the construction of an aquarium in Ušće park, a police officer pushed a journalist from the portal Mašina, who was reporting from the event and filming as the police arrested a citizen.
Campaigns against journalists and experts endangering their safety
An organised campaign of discreditation and targeting of journalists and media professionals has continued following the broadcast of the Centre for Social Stability’s content titled “Zlo doba 2” (Evil Age 2). On 5 February, on national TV channels, the campaign against Veran Matić was intensified through statements issued by the same organisation and the coordinated dissemination of accusations via newly established local portals linked to the organisers of this campaign. In its statement, Matić was accused of acting “against the state interests of Serbia,” alongside an announcement that “a thematic special dedicated to his committed work on certain anti-state projects will be released soon. This was followed by a wave of articles and posts across a number of newer portals and pages that are already clearly being used as instruments to attack dissenting and critical voices, including: Podunavlje uživo, Nova Pazova uživo, Stara Pazova uživo, Palanačke vesti, Lučani uživo, Glas Aranđelovca, Srbija na istoku, as well as other related channels.
In parallel with this campaign, additional dangerous allegations began circulating on the social media platform X after the film was aired, claiming that Matić “finances Albanian media in Kosovo” and “supported separatists.” Such claims, made without any evidence, represent an attempt to further raise tensions and potentially incite hatred and violence, creating a direct risk to Veran Matić’s safety.
On 13 February, the campaign targeting journalists from professional and critical media outlets was further intensified through the publication of lists on the Centre for Social Stability’s social media accounts, as well as announcements of the continuation of the “Zlo doba” series. The organisation published a list of 45 names with a message that these individuals would be addressed in upcoming episodes, and also announced a special 90-minute edition dedicated to Veran Matić. Publishing this list constitutes a continuation of the public targeting campaign and further increases pressure on the individuals named – some of whom have previously been targets of attacks that remain unresolved to this day.
Dangerous targeting by public officials
On 1 February, Miloš Vučević, President of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), made serious allegations against Dinko Gruhonjić, Programme Director of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) and a university professor. Vučević stated that the alleged “attacks by University of Novi Sad professor Dinko Gruhonjić on the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, are in fact attacks on the constitutional order and the independence of Serbia.” The statement followed the publication of Gruhonjić’s interview on the Sarajevo-based portal Slobodna Bosna.
The portal Bujanovačke was subjected to hate speech and labelled as an “Ustaša” and “Picula’s” portal that is “paid to spit on its own country.” Following the article “Our special units at a competition in Dubai: It is important to participate,” Saša Arsić, a local councillor from the ruling coalition in Bujanovac, shared the article on his Facebook profile and made a series of such accusations. In another post, he again targeted Bujanovačke, posting a photo with the acting director of the government’s Coordination Body for Southern Serbia and the head of the Serbian Progressive Party in Bujanovac, claiming that “Ustasha portals” would publish “all kinds of nonsense” for money and “sell Serbia and Serbianhood.”
President Aleksandar Vučić and National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić publicly targeted journalists from N1 and Nova S following news about the detention of war veterans suspected of planning to overthrow the constitutional order and attack the President. The trigger for the attacks was an N1 report which, alongside the police statement, also relayed the detainees’ lawyer’s claim that the detention was “intimidation ahead of the gathering on 15 March.” On X, Brnabić accused N1 of “a monstrous relativisation and an even more monstrous twisting of reality… (in)directly protecting those who want to harm the President of Serbia and his children… Horrifying. And condemnable.” In a public address, Vučić repeated allegations that N1 and Nova S “spread lies,” adding that he had “a thousand reasons” to shut them down, but did not do so.
Attacks on media outlets
In February, several cases of attacks on media websites were recorded. These outlets faced serious disruptions due to continuous attacks on the servers hosting their portals. The attacks significantly hampered, and at times completely prevented, users from accessing articles and other website content. In addition, the attacks interfered with editorial work, as access to the internal CMS system used by journalists and editors to write, edit and publish articles was restricted or blocked. The attacks lasted for varying periods—ranging from one or several days, and in some cases for more than a week. According to the information available to us, the outlets targeted included Radar, Južne vesti, Glas Šumadije, Pressek, Vranje News, Krug from Kraljevo and E-Braničevo.
In February, another case of an Instagram account suspension was also recorded. On 6 February, Meta suspended the Instagram profile of Balkan Insight without a clear explanation. Access to the account was restored a week later.
Dangerous Precedent: A Practice That Threatens Journalists and Freedom of Expression
The Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zrenjanin filed a criminal complaint against Nemanja Šarović, a contributor to KTV, on suspicion of the criminal offense of obstruction of justice. The complaint states that some users left insulting comments under his Instagram post directed at the prosecution and public prosecutor Dragana Mojsin, which, according to the complaint, could have influenced her work. Critics point out that there have been no previous recorded cases of someone being held criminally responsible for comments made by other, often anonymous, users on social media. For this reason, the case is being interpreted in public as a potentially problematic precedent that could have negative consequences for freedom of expression.
Appointment of the Director General of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS)
In February 2026, Manja Grčić was appointed as Director General of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) for a five-year term. The appointment was accompanied by a series of controversies in the professional and media community. One of the disputed aspects was a potential conflict of interest, as at the time of her candidacy and appointment she was linked to the company Tačno, which owns the Tanjug news agency and is associated with television channels within the private media sector. Under the Law on Public Media Services, conflict-of-interest rules in the appointment of the Director General are explicitly regulated, and part of the expert community pointed out that such ownership links to private media could allow for personal gain or benefits for related entities. After being appointed as RTS Director General, Grčić stepped down from her position in the private company. A public debate also emerged regarding her university degree. According to claims by the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), the initial documentation indicated that her degree obtained at the University of Leeds carried 180 ECTS credits, while the law requires at least 240. Subsequently, the Qualifications Agency announced that Manja Grčić’s diploma had been officially recognised (nostrified).
