Pressure on NGOs

Citizen Lab and the SHARE Foundation confirmed that the phone of University of Belgrade rector Vladan Đokić was infected with Pegasus spyware during 2026 through a zero-click exploit. Rade Bajić, a senior prosecutorial associate at the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime who had worked on the Generalštab case, received an Apple warning in August that his device had likely been targeted; an infection has not been confirmed. According to Citizen Lab, at least 16 members of Serbian civil society are now known to have been targeted with mercenary spyware. No state body has responded.

On 8 October, CRTA sent the Ministry of Interior a request for a meeting on the safety of its employees and observation mission members during the electoral process, particularly on election day, 25 October 2026. The request followed claims, published in some media since early September, that CRTA plans to suspend its mission during election day and withdraw observers from polling stations. CRTA attached to the request a selection of such media reports.

The Higher Court in Belgrade granted CRTA's motion for an interim measure and barred Informer's editor-in-chief, Milovan Stanić, from republishing claims that CRTA is a criminal organization preparing bloodshed, under a penalty of RSD 100,000. The measure applies until the end of the civil proceedings. CRTA had sued over three Informer publications of 4 October that linked it to a recording of lawyer Vladimir Tupanjac. The measure is not a ruling on the lawsuit itself, and the defendant may appeal within 48 hours of service.