One of the summer’s most violent attacks on Serbian journalists occurred on 13 August. While covering a protest outside the local headquarters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the northern city of Novi Sad, the editor-in-chief of the news website Razglas, Zarko Bogosavljevic, and a journalist from Novi Sad 192, Nikola Bilic, were beaten by SNS supporters with metal bars. The attack was so violent that Nikola Bilic, who suffered head injuries, was sent to the emergency room.
Between 1 July and 25 August alone, RSF recorded 34 physical attacks on Serbian journalists, photojournalists and video reporters. The vast majority were covering anti-corruption demonstrations sparked by the deadly collapse of a railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024.
Of the 34 incidents, 14 were committed by violent supporters of the SNS, the party of President Aleksandar Vucic, who also attacked many peaceful protesters as well as some police officers. The other 20 assaults were carried out by law enforcement officers.
The number of attacks over the past two months surpasses all annual totals of violence against media professionals in Serbia since at least 2020, according to RSF data, and is double the number of cases recorded in 2024 (17). The current annual tally for 2025 stands at 65 cases – an unprecedented level judging by the records of the Independent Journalists’ Association (NUNS) kept since 2008. Although EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos condemned the assaults in mid-August, she was swiftly rebuked by Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, a member of the SNS, who told her to remain “silent.”