Protesters and journalists say they were attacked by hooded assailants at a demonstration held to coincide with a state ceremony attended by senior officials in the northern city of Novi Sad.
BIRN
Police in Novi Sad city centre on February 16, 2026. Photo: Rajko Bozic.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad said on Tuesday that it has launched a probe into allegations of “violence and physical confrontations” at a protest rally in the city on Monday evening.
“The Prosecutor’s Office ordered the police to immediately identify anyone who participated in the violence, regardless of who they are, and to take all legally prescribed measures and actions to gather and secure evidence in order to prosecute those responsible,” it said in statement.
Protesters gathered outside the Serbian National Theatre in central Novi Sad, where an event was being held to mark the 200th anniversary of Serbia’s cultural and literary institution Matica Srpska, attended by government and ruling party officials.
Amid a heavy police presence, supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party faced off against the protesters near the venue. A group of hooded men rushed at the protesters and started assaulting them, it was alleged.
Photojournalist Zarko Bogosavljevic filed a criminal complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office claiming that he was attacked, along with other media workers and protesting students.
“My colleagues and I ran to film it, and then they quickly started to push me against the wall of a building. I shouted, ‘I’m a journalist, stop.’ One of them hit me on the hand, knocked my phone away and several of them step on it,” Bogosavljevic was quoted as saying by the Journalists’ Association of Serbia, UNS.
Another media union, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, NUNS, said the incident “shows how risky the work of journalists at public gatherings has become, even when journalists clearly identify themselves and act professionally”. Bogosavljevic, who works for Razglas News, was wearing a fluorescent ‘Press’ vest.
Monday’s rally was part of ongoing protests initially sparked by an infrastructure collapse at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, which left 16 dead and raised allegations of official corruption and negligence against President Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian Progressive Party, which has been in power since 2012.
Since the protests began, there have been repeated incidents of masked men attacking demonstrators.
