The members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium and partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform are deeply concerned about the ongoing year-long persecution campaign against journalist Dinko Gruhonjić, programme Director of the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (NDNV) and Associate Professor at the Department of Media Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad.
Fifteen attacks against Dinko Gruhonjić have been documented on the MFRR platform since 14 March 2024, when a manipulated video was released falsely portraying him as a political opponent. The majority of these attacks (80%) were threatening and intimidating, including an unprecedented level of death threats sent online and written on his house. Smear campaigns by media tabloids were further amplified by public figures with close ties to the government. The video has been used numerous times to discredit the journalist’s work, including by former Prime Minister Vučević, who stepped down. Gruhonjić has experienced a hostile climate at the Novi Sad University, where his students have also been threatened. In addition, Gruhonjić faced two criminal complaints for ‘hate speech’, along with NDNV President Ana Lalić Hegediš, who was sent death threats as well.
“For 15 days, I became the ‘main story’ on regime-controlled media, effectively the subject of a ‘manhunt’. For the first time in my 35 years of living in Novi Sad, strangers confronted and insulted me on the street, and I faced direct physical threats. Despite this, the Serbian police have provided no protection,” said Dinko Gruhonjić for the 2024 Europe Press Freedom Report of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform.
One year later, alarmingly, none of the threats reported to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crimes (VTK) has been prosecuted, and the threats persist.
As a prime example, on 16 February 2025, Gruhonjić received seven frightening Facebook messages in a single day from different accounts. They include threats of sexual violence, as well as death threats, warning the journalist that his throat will soon be “cut” and his “bones will be broken”. Two of the messages also threatened to “destroy” the lives of Gruhonjić’s family members. The Safe Journalists Network (SJN), which has been closely following Gruhonjić’s case, reported similar threats the day before on its website. The offices of the NDNV have also been broken into recently, with no action taken by the authorities despite footage of the perpetrators.
Amidst increasing threats against journalists for reporting on student protests and political instability following the fatal collapse of the Novi Sad railway roof, pressures against Gruhonjić and his son, who is based in Croatia, have intensified. In this context, Gruhonjić saw no other choice but to seek protection for his son from the Croatian authorities.
The culture of impunity, deeply entrenched in Serbia, has made journalists distrust law enforcement authorities. Such an environment discourages reporting and goes a long way to legitimise such ad hominem attacks without fear of accountability. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in the country and provide support to journalists in need, as well as call for accountability from the authorities.
The undersigned organisations reiterate their full support for journalist Dinko Gruhonjić and once again urge the authorities, who are aware of all the threats and the identities of many of the perpetrators, to thoroughly investigate all threats and ensure justice without delay.
