The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Serbia on 3 April 2025. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. The Government replied on 2 June 2025.
Since the communication was sent, the environment for human rights defenders seems to have further deteriorated. The Special Rapporteur received disturbing reports of intensified smears and inflammatory statements against civil society organisations and individuals by government officials and affiliated actors.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the interference into the privacy of five human rights defenders regarding their personal financial data in Serbia; the use of spyware against journalists and activists; criminalization of environmental human rights defenders and raid on the offices of CRTA; as well as public smear campaigns against journalists, CSOs and human rights defenders.
Ms. Maja Stojanović is a human rights defender and the Executive Director of Civic Initiatives (CI) for 11 years. CI aims to support democratization and good governance by encouraging greater citizen participation in decision-making processes, also focusing on civil society strengthening, monitoring policies related to civil society and political rights, and improving electoral conditions, media freedoms, and Serbia’s European integration.
Ms. Sofija Todorović is a human rights defender and the director of Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR). She has long engaged in human rights activism, focusing on Serbia’s wartime past, transitional justice, and building peace and trust between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. YIHR addresses war crimes committed in the name of the Serbian population and is often targeted by authorities for being accused of anti-Serb politics.
Ms. Katarina Đukić is part of ProGlas, an initiative founded in 2023 by intellectuals and public figures aiming to restore democratic order, legal integrity, and political institutions in Serbia. The initiative advocates for social tolerance, increased citizen involvement in political decisions, and improved electoral conditions.
“Ne damo Jadar” is a movement founded by farmers in the Jadar valley opposing lithium mining due to its harmful environmental consequences. Ms. Nebojša Petković in an environmental human rights defender who organized protests against mining, He actively highlights harmful ecological practices and illegal actions by institutions, raising awareness about actions that favour private interests over public good.
The ‘Local Front’ is a citizen’s association in Kraljevo advocating for the fight against corruption and ensuring strict compliance with laws and procedures in local government bodies and public institutions. Local activist Mr. Predrag Voštinić, has been regularly targeted by local and state officials.
CRTA (Centre for Transparency, Research and Accountability) is a Belgrade-based non-governmental organization focusing on the rule of law, democratic dialogue and accountability. Since 2016, CRTA has carried out election observation activities nationally and locally in Serbia. CRTA was the subject of a previous communication (SRB 1/2024) sent to the Government of Serbia.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) is an organization advocating for human rights and promoting active participation of citizens in legal initiatives.
ALLEGATIONS
Violations of privacy
On 31 December 2024, the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering, an administration body within the Ministry of Finance has requested from all banks in Serbia personal data on bank accounts of five human rights defenders. The defenders concerned were not informed, and the public became aware of this on 6 February 2025, when an article was published in the weekly magazine Radar.
In the letter sent to all banks in Serbia, dated 31 December 2024, signed by the Acting Director of the Administration Željko Radovanović, data, information and documentation were requested regarding the accounts of Ms. Maja Stojanović, Executive Director of Civic Initiatives, Ms. Katarina Đukić, Coordinator of ProGlas, and Ms. Sofija Todorović, Director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
On 16 January 2025, a same request was sent concerning the bank accounts of Mr. Predrag Voštinić from the Local Front; and on 23 January 2025 for the bank accounts of Mr. Nebojša Petković from the “Ne damo Jadar” association.
All letters from the Administration requested the same information, including: “1. Circulation on dinar and foreign currency accounts with the specified basic inflows and outflows and data on whose order payments are made and in whose favour payments from the account are made. 2. Current account balance. 3. Data on persons authorized to dispose of funds on those accounts. 4. Are the mentioned persons authorized on the accounts of other persons. 5. Documentation and data on transactions in which named persons are nostro principals or users of loro remittances (SWIFT messages and documents on which consent entries were made). 6. Whether persons own safes and whether they are authorized by other persons’ safes. 7. And all other available data and documentation related to the business activities of the mentioned persons (e.g. loan agreements, guarantee agreements, guarantees, as well as other documentation in which the persons appear as signatories of the contract or are in the capacity of authorized persons)”.
The Government responded to media inquiries by stating that they “had checked the data of the activists at the initiative of another state body, due to the suspicion of multiple criminal acts”. The response did not clarify the criminal acts or the state agency concerned, arguing that it could jeopardize the detection of a criminal offense or the conduct of pre-investigation proceedings.
The five human rights defenders and their organizations have previously publicly criticized the policies of the Government. Additionally, these five individuals concerned have faced hostility not only from high-ranking state officials but also from tabloid media campaigns aimed at discrediting them. They were the target of a smear campaign, with the tabloid press accused them of being behind the ongoing protests in Serbia and acting on behalf of the interest of foreign powers.
Use of surveillance and spyware on activists and journalists
It is reported that advanced phone spyware alongside mobile phone forensic products were used to unlawfully target journalists, environmental activists and other individuals in a covert surveillance campaign. Serbian police and the Security Information Agency (Bezbedonosno-informativna Agencija – BIA) have reportedly used an Android spyware system, NoviSpy, to covertly infect individuals’ devices during periods of detention or police interviews. The spyware products used were reportedly used by Cellebrite, a firm headquartered in Israel.
NoviSpy can capture sensitive personal data from a target phone and provide capabilities to turn on a phone’s microphone or camera remotely, while Cellebrite forensic tools are used to both unlock the phone prior to spyware infection and also allow the extraction of the data on a device.
The devices of human rights defenders and journalists were infected during arrests and detention by police on various suspicions, including driving under the influence of alcohol. The individuals concerned had to hand in their mobile devices during their interrogation and questioning, and they appeared tampered with afterwards. This tactic of installing spyware covertly on people’s devices during detention or interviews appears to have been widely used by the authorities.
Criminalization of environmental human rights defenders
Since August 2024, a significant escalation in the repression of environmental activists protesting lithium mining has been reported. As the protests gained momentum, the government responded with increasing force, viewing these environmental demonstrations as a threat to its authority. In the span of ten days, at least 33 arrests were made across 17 cities. Many protesters were charged with criminal and misdemeanour charges including calling for violent change of the constitutional order, disturbing public order, and obstructing police work. In addition to the arrests, several activists, some of whom did not even attend the protests, were called for an ‘informative talk’ with the police.
Activists also reported having their phones confiscated, homes searched without warrants, and being detained for their social media posts.
From 20 August 2024 onwards, a smear campaign was launched on TV Informer against 39 organizations and 11 donor organizations. This campaign extended beyond the protestors against lithium mining to include civil society organizations that promote democratic values and human rights. State-aligned media outlets have labelled NGOs as foreign agents working to destabilize Serbia. Similar statements also came from the Governor of the National Bank, the President of Serbia, members of the Government and MPs. The TV Informer program furthermore included detailed charts of NGO finances and accused these organizations of using donor funds to finance protests.
Smear campaigns and stigmatization of journalists
Government officials, members from the ruling party and media outlets reportedly affiliated with the latter have reportedly been actively leading and participating in smear campaigns and the spread of misinformation against independent journalists and media. Such attacks, mostly been expressed on social media posts or in remarks to the press, have reportedly included insults and threats directed at journalists working independently and for the N1 news organization, among others. This discourse emanating from public officials stigmatized and criminalized the professional activity of the targeted journalists.
In this context, several journalists have been subjected to incidents of verbal and physical attacks by unidentified citizens in recent months. Journalists reporting on public affairs often face intimidation and harassment in connection to their work.
On 11 March 2025, approximately one hundred individuals 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 or ensure the uninterrupted operation of the media organization.
Police raid of CRTA and other NGO premises
On 25 February 2025, at 9:42 a.m., anti-corruption police entered the premises of CRTA in Belgrade. Approximately 20 officers from the Police Crime Directorate, some of whom were armed, were involved in the raid, acting on behalf of the Unit for Combatting Corruption of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The police officers reportedly did not present a court order to search the offices but acted under the Prosecutor’s request to collect information.
The information gathering reportedly mainly focused on the documents related to the USAID grants received by CRTA in the 8 previous years. Under police supervision, CRTA staff members collected and photocopied documents requested by the police officers, amounting to some 8.500 pages. The police remained in CRTA’s offices for about 28 hours, rotating in three shifts. Meanwhile, the director of CRTA had to remain on the premises the entire time. The tabloid press reported about the raid 20 minutes before it had even began, creating the impression that the police had leaked information beforehand.
According to the Chief Public Prosecutor, preliminary investigations were initiated in order to collect information about suspicions of money laundering and abuse of power by unidentified individuals.
On 9 March 2025, President Vučić, in a media address broadcast live on TV Informer, stated, among others: “Those who directly received money from abroad to carry out a colour revolution—there will be surprises in the coming days, you’ll see… Do you know that the organization USAID paid €190,000, through CRTA and some other NGOs, to an organization called ‘Da smradovi odu’? €190,000. Imagine that wonderful humanitarian and humane aspect of USAID and CRTA, where the organization ‘Da smradovi odu’ receives €190,000, not dinars.”
In reality, the budget for the project in question reportedly amounted to 180,502 RSD (around 1,500 EUR) for three months and involved street actions, developing online tools for reporting pollution, mapping local infrastructure problems, collecting signatures and submitting them to the Zrenjanin local government.
On 13 March 2025, CRTA filed a criminal complaint for unauthorized handling of information and documentation seized from CRTA during a raid conducted by members of the Criminal Police Directorate (UKP) and for forwarding this information to the President of the Republic.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our serious concerns at what, if added together, appears to be a systematic campaign aimed at discrediting human rights defenders, election observers and journalists in the country, through various means. The reported surveillance and use of spyware, the concerted media campaigns, coupled with the criminalization of journalists and media outlets, environmental human rights defenders and pro-democracy organizations creates an atmosphere of fear in the country, resulting in the shrinking of civic space and media freedom as well as self-censorship and backsliding in terms of the enjoyment of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression.
The deployment of armed police while collecting information from organizations, and the use of media announcements appears to be a deliberate act of intimidation that contributes to the stigmatization of civil society and activism in general. Besides, forcing the representatives of the organizations to remain on-site amounts to a de facto detention. We are greatly concerned about the violation of privacy and risk for the safety of those concerned arising from the information taken from the premises of the organizations, which included some sensitive personal data from employees, contractors, partners, participants in activities, and other relevant actors. In an environment of hostility and distrust, labeling a civil society actor as a “foreign agent” or collaborator of “foreign agents” puts them at risk of being attacked.
In this regard, we emphasize that States have a duty to put in place effective measures to protect against attacks aimed at silencing those exercising their right to freedom of expression, including journalists, human rights defenders, activists and other citizens (CCPR/C/GC/34, para. 23). We recall that freedom of the press is an essential component of the right to freedom of expression and States should actively take measures to safeguard it and ensure conditions of safety for journalists and media professionals to exercise their work. We emphasize that public officials have a remarkable responsibility in the use of their public discourse and we note that, when stigmatizing or criminalizing journalists, media outlets, human rights defenders or civil society organizations, such discourse risks leading to attacks and physical violence against those targeted.
We recall the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression after her visit to Serbia and Kosovo in 2023, which included, among others, the following:
- Review, in consultation with civil society and media organizations, existing structures for the protection of journalists with a view to assessing their effectiveness, and set up effective, well-resourced multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms to provide prompt and effective protection to journalists, human rights defenders and social activists against online and offline intimidation, threats, attacks and violence;
- Ensure that all cases of threats and attacks against journalists, human rights defenders and activists are investigated promptly, effectively, thoroughly and impartially and that perpetrators are brought to justice;
- Provide appropriate training and capacity development for prosecutors and judges on issues relating to hate speech, the safety of journalists and freedom of expression;
- Consider establishing an offence of “intimidation against journalists” in legislation or issuing appropriate guidelines to cover cases of threats and intimidation, including online attacks, that are harmful but do not meet the current definition of “endangerment of safety”;
- Adopt laws and policies against vexatious libel claims (strategic lawsuits against public participation), allowing for the possibility of their early dismissal and other mitigation measures, and provide relevant training for the judiciary, while upholding access to justice and support to victims (A/HRC/56/53/Add.2 , para. 98).
