Germany · de.indymedia · · 3h
Serbia: Opposition members are targeted by surveillance software
Deutsch (original) · Auto-translated to English
IT forensics experts have identified the targeted use of spyware against citizens in Serbia in several cases. This is not the first time that government critics and opposition members of the Balkan state have been targeted.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has scheduled early elections for the end of October. EU accession candidate Serbia has been in a domestic political crisis for almost two years. Now it has become known that the opposition in Serbia is facing a wave of digital surveillance. Thehttps://sharefoundation.info/en/share-foundation-students-and-opposition...Foundationhas recorded 14 cases of people being targeted by spyware since the beginning of the year. They include members of Serbia's student movement, activists, an opposition MP and a local council member. In August alone, twelve people contacted the NGO, which works to protect fundamental rights and freedoms in the digital space.
Those affected had previously received notifications from Apple on their iPhones, so-called threat notifications. The device manufacturer only sends these if there is a high degree of certainty that there is a case of targeted espionage.
One of the cases have share and thathttps://citizenlab.ca/research/pegasus-spyware-infection-of-serbian-acti...University of Toronto Labnow confirmed after forensic analysis. For the period from December 2025 to January 2026, there are indicators that the device of a member of the student movement was infected with Pegasus. It is a Trojan from the Israeli NSO Group, which sells it to government agencies.
The software gives the attacker full access to the device. This means secret access to data such as notes, images and even messages from encrypted messengers. Pegasus can also silently take screen recordings or activate the camera and microphone. The investigation revealed that a zero click exploit was used to install Pegasus on the device under investigation. A message was sent, the content of which was processed by the iMessage application without the user having to interact.
Android devices were also in focus
In addition, Share detects two infections with NoviSpy, one of which was also confirmed by Amnesty International's Security Lab. It is again a member of the student movement. The device was previously confiscated during a police interrogation. It could have been infected with Android-specific spyware. The second case became known when the pro-government broadcaster TV Informer published private messenger messages from the device in a live broadcast.
NoviSpy was first discovered in Serbia in 2024. At that time, it sent the intercepted data to a server whose IP address belonged to the Serbian intelligence and intelligence agency BIA. With the new variant, additional measures have now been taken to make it more difficult to detect during controls.
Not the first time
The new cases are part of a long series of documented abuses of surveillance technology in Serbia and represent the largest wave of surveillance there so far. According to Share, the timing of the monitoring is related to the local elections in the spring. On March 29th, elections were held in ten Serbian municipalities. The ruling SNS party only narrowly emerged as the election winner. It has long been criticized for authoritarian government and corruption.
According to thehttps://www.dw.com/en/serbia-local-elections-aleksandar-vucic-sns-party/...Waveto intimidation, violence and manipulation.https://euractiv.com/de/news/serbien-haelt-am-25-oktober-vorziehe-wah...last TuesdaySerbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced early parliamentary elections for October 25th. This is necessary because of political tensions and the division in the country. Polls suggest it will be the most closely contested election since the party came to power in 2012. In this politically heated climate, these surveillance cases have a broad signaling effect beyond the people affected.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/09/serbia-use-spyware-again...UN special rapporteurshave therefore expressed “great concern”. “Without full respect for freedom of assembly and expression before, during and after elections, the electoral process cannot be considered free and fair,” said the UN experts. Spyware technologies are “completely incompatible” with human rights.
Thehttps://edri.org/our-work/students-and-opposition-politicians-targeted-b...European umbrella organization of digital civil rights organizations EDRiconsiders the use of such technologies to be a serious violation of the right to privacy. In addition, EDRi refers to the “chilling effect” – citizens are intimidated. This affects their freedom of expression.
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Source: de.indymedia