The Slavko Curuvija Foundation said Wednesday that in July 2026 it recorded at least 106 verbal attacks by state officials, other public office holders and ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) officials against journalists and media outlets, which it said “represents a significant decline compared to the previous months.”
According to the Foundation, “the continuation of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation into the alleged use of a sonic weapon during the 15 March 2025 protest, death threats against the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the announced elections and public opinion polls” were among the most frequent triggers for attacks in July.
“Representatives of the ruling authorities portrayed journalists as participants in inciting violence and civil war, while increasingly accusing them of various forms of allegedly unlawful reporting, including calls for the criminal prosecution of journalists,” the Foundation said in its monthly report.
It added that, during an appearance on Serbian state TV (RTS), Lead Prosecutor Miodrag Markovic announced the prosecution of four groups of individuals. One group, according to the prosecutor, consists of those who “provided media support” – specifically those who posted claims about sonic weapons on social media or in certain outlets – and whose identities, he noted, are already “more or less known.”
“The highest number of attacks was recorded in statements and social media posts by Nebojsa Bakarec, an SNS MP and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture and Information (21). He was followed by: President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic (13), SNS leader Milos Vucevic (13), Serbian Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic (12), SNS MP Vladimir Djukanovic (8), SNS MP and chair of the SNS parliamentary group Milenko Jovanov (6),” the Foundation said.
The attacks on journalists and media outlets also involved the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, the Novi Sad branch of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), and 19 other officials, including Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali, Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic, Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic, Minister for Public Investment Darko Glisic and Minister without Portfolio Djordje Milicevic.
“N1 (27), Nova (25) and Danas (8) were the media outlets most frequently targeted, followed by Radar, Vreme, NIN, Autonomija, KRIK, Ozon Press and Insajder,” the report reads.
The Foundation said that the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade continued its pre-investigation proceedings launched the previous month over what it described as “reasonable suspicion” that a “simulation of the use of a sonic cannon” had been carried out during the protest on 15 March 2025.
As part of these proceedings, the police searched the home and office of journalist and military analyst Aleksandar Radic, who was among the first to speak publicly about the possible use of a sonic weapon during the protest and to discuss it with journalists.
“Among individual journalists, Dinko Gruhonjic was by far the most frequently targeted (10). Eight of those attacks came from SNS leader Milos Vucevic, who continued to portray Gruhonjic at party rallies across Vojvodina as a threat to Serbia’s territorial integrity, Serbian identity and the Serbian Orthodox Church. During July, Jelena Obucina, Igor Mihaljevic, Marko Vidojkovic, Nenad Kulacin and other journalists were also targeted,” the Foundation said.
In addition to direct attacks on journalists and media outlets, the Foundation also recorded at least nine attacks against four members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM). It said that, after their demands had been met and the Serbian Parliament had adopted an authentic interpretation of the law, they withdrew their resignations and began participating in the Council’s work.
“Public officials labeled them as opposition and “blockader” appointees and claimed that they had returned solely because of the high remuneration attached to these positions,” it added.
The Foundation noted that these attacks are not included in the final number of attacks recorded in July, as they were not directed against journalists, but that it documents such incidents as pressure on the independent members of the REM Council.
The Foundation also categorized a post on X by opposition MP Zdravko Ponos as “inappropriate language used by a public official.” In the post, Ponos asked: “Would it be too much to ask TV Prva not to have its female presenters come straight to the morning program from the red light district, its male guests from the pub, and its female guests unshaven? Everyone should at least take a shower. Or are we waiting for the position of the REM, reinterpreted by the National Assembly through an authentic interpretation?”
Source: N1
