The attacker on the N1 team has been apprehended after two and a half months, and detention has been proposed.

Regarding the attack on the news crew of N1 television that occurred in Belgrade, at Nikola Pašić Square on November 20, 2025, at 2:20 PM, we inform the public that police officers on February 5, 2026, located and, with the approval of the acting public prosecutor of the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, ordered the detention of the suspect V. S. for a duration of 48 hours, as stated in the Prosecutor's Office announcement.

He is suspected of committing the criminal offense of preventing the printing and distribution of printed materials and broadcasting programs.

On February 6, 2026, the public prosecutor interrogated the suspect, who presented his defense in the presence of his attorney. Subsequently, a request for detention was submitted to the First Basic Court in Belgrade, considering, as stated, that there are circumstances indicating a risk of flight, as well as specific circumstances suggesting that the suspect would, if released, quickly repeat the criminal offense.

What exactly happened?

The N1 crew was attacked in November in front of the National Assembly when a man emerged from the so-called Ćacilend, assaulted our crew, and broke the camera and tripod. The police did not respond. Later, media reports confirmed that the individual was V.S., who, according to RSE, spent 15 years in prison for a murder he committed in 1997, as shown by publicly available data. Sretenović testified in a 2021 statement for TV Happy that he killed a man over a financial debt and an insult.

After that, according to the prosecution's data in Požega, he assaulted a person in Arilje in 2016, for which he was sentenced to a prison term of one year and six months at the end of 2022.

He was, according to RSE reports, supposed to be in prison during 2026 when he was spotted in Ćacilend.

The police did not respond. The police arrived at the scene of the attack on journalists at 3:40 PM, which means an hour and 20 minutes after the incident occurred.

Cameraman Ivan Pavlović stated that they were filming a report when they noticed a larger group coming from Ćacilend.

"They passed by us, I turned the camera towards the point. One of them came back, approached me from behind, grabbed my camera, and threw it to the ground twice. Then they ran away. All this happened in front of the police, who were standing about 20 meters away from us and just watched. My colleague Maja was traumatized; I think these are horrific situations," said the cameraman.

Police officers then began to "timidly approach" while the men fled, he added.

"Before he threw the camera, this man approached us and told us we could not film, asking my colleague to turn off the camera. We told him we were on public property and had the right to film the tent settlement and the people coming out of there. He left, then returned, and that’s when the attack happened," said Maja Nikolić.

She then, she says, ran to the police who were a few meters away.

"Two police officers were about five meters from us. About ten others, as there was some kind of shift, were nearby. I was almost yelling at the police to react, and nothing happened. I feel defeated as a citizen, not as a journalist, as a citizen—because I live in a country where, first of all, that man is allowed to do what he does. And he is not afraid. He also knows that police are around him, but he probably knows the police won't say anything to him. I feel defeated because I can expect something like this to happen, but for the police not to protect me at that moment?" she said.

None of the police officers approached them at first, she continues.

Source: N1