NUNS: Impunity Becomes the Norm – Institutions Must Break the Silence

When three journalist murders in the same country, Dada Vujasinović, Slavko Ćuruvija, and Milan Pantić, remain without final justice, it becomes evident that the system cannot and does not want to protect journalists and media freedom. The acquittal in the Ćuruvija case is a symbol of the collapse of justice and a message that truth has no protection from the state.

Data from NUNS further confirms this grim picture: in 2025, there were 238 recorded attacks and pressures on journalists in Serbia, of which, according to the information available to us, 136 were reported to the authorities, while only one conviction has been handed down – the same as the previous year.

There are currently 126 ongoing proceedings before the prosecutors' offices, but the number of unreported cases clearly speaks to journalists' distrust in the institutions and the culture of impunity.

Since the beginning of the year, there has been a record number of physical attacks, particularly during protests and public gatherings. Photographers and journalists reporting from protests are especially targeted, and the increasing number of attacks by police officers – the institution that should protect them and ensure their unhindered work, rather than attack them – is particularly concerning.

Journalists in Serbia are wiretapped and followed using spying software installed on their phones, while investigations into these cases stagnate for months. Such inefficient and non-transparent actions by the relevant authorities further deepen mistrust and confirm that impunity has become the norm.

NUNS warns that there is no consistent prevention or systemic protection for journalists in Serbia. Attacks go unpunished, investigations last for years, and the message being sent is that violence against journalists is – permitted.

We call on the relevant institutions – the police, prosecutors' offices, and courts – to urgently take measures for:

• faster and more effective investigations,
• consistent prosecution of perpetrators,
• establishing effective mechanisms for protecting journalists in the field, especially during protests.

The impunity of attacks on journalists endangers not only their safety – it undermines the fundamental values of democracy, freedom of expression, and the citizens' right to be informed.

NUNS will continue to monitor all cases of attacks and pressures on journalists, provide support to colleagues who are targets of violence, and demand accountability from all institutions that, through their silence and inaction, contribute to the culture of impunity.

Journalism is not a crime. An attack on a journalist is an attack on the public interest.

Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia