News

The owner of Alpak Capital, Pedro Vargas Santos David, was officially registered yesterday as the director of all independent media of ANN, a member of the United Group in Serbia. As can be seen in the Business Registers Agency, the decision regarding the appointment of the owner of Alpak Capital was adopted on August 17, 2026.

The expansion of the propaganda network, targeting, and unprofessional journalism at the local level - this could briefly characterize the recent takeover or establishment of local media in Serbia, predominantly by two main media figures of the current regime - Saša Blagojević and Dragan J. Vučićević. In this regard, as Veran Matić explains for N1, "the offensive continues," and the message is clear: "We can do anything, and no one can stop us."

Seventy-one open cases of attacks on journalists in the first six months of the year and only one finalized case, according to data provided by ANEM, indicate almost complete impunity. At the same time, journalists are facing physical attacks, targeting, threats, financial pressures, and attempts to exclude professional media from the public space. "The state is against us," comments Veran Matić, President of the Board of ANEM and member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, for Mašina.

Out of 159 announced competitions for project co-financing of media content in Serbia, 153 have been completed. In four cases, the legal deadline for making decisions on the allocation of funds has expired, and the process is still ongoing for two competitions that were announced later.

The Special Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime has received reports of new threats involving hanging, public execution, and sacrifice directed at journalist Veran Matić. He told N1 that he has reported about ten threats since the beginning of the year, but none have been resolved.

The President of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Veran Matić, stated today that there is a "culture of impunity" in Serbia—police do not respond and protect the perpetrators, the prosecution either does not react or cannot because the police do not provide evidence, and if someone is honestly convicted, then the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, intervenes to grant clemency. "They have his protection. All of this is a very dramatic warning for students, the opposition, and the critical part of society to oppose the usurpation of power and the taking of justice into their own hands by such a parapolice force, which, with clear instructions, spreads violence and intimidation," Matić told the newspaper Danas.

Six journalists have left Serbia in the past two years due to endangered safety and are now living in exile. The latest in this series is military analyst Aleksandar Radić, against whom a criminal complaint has been filed and a warrant has been issued in the meantime.

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) condemns the threats and disturbing messages directed at the President of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Veran Matić, on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and X, and calls on the authorities to urgently identify and punish those responsible.

The SafeJournalists network strongly condemns the new death threats and violence directed at Veran Matić and demands that the Special Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime and the Ministry of Interior promptly identify the individuals responsible and take all necessary measures within their authority.