Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, has issued a scathing assessment of Serbia’s domestic freedoms, warning of a precipitous collapse in basic human rights over the past 12 months.
Concluding an intense monitoring mission from May 18–21, O’Flaherty sounded the alarm ahead of tomorrow’s massive student-led rally scheduled at Belgrade’s Slavija Square, explicitly demanding that state authorities secure the demonstration in full compliance with international human rights law. The Commissioner announced his office will actively monitor the state’s response to the event.
[COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMPLIANCE AUDIT: SERBIA 2026]
• Monitoring Window: May 18–21, 2026 (Follow-up to April 2025 mission).
• Core Findings: Systemic SLAPP lawsuits, polarization, collapsing institutional trust.
• Impunity Index: Only 5 out of ~200 documented assaults on journalists resulted in convictions.
• Sonic Weaponry: Zero official investigations into the alleged March 15, 2025 sonic assault on citizens.
• State Boycott: Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Internal Affairs cancelled scheduled meetings.
Constitutional Boycott & Collapsing Oversight
The severity of the democratic breakdown was underscored by an unprecedented diplomatic snub: high-ranking Serbian officials—including the Minister of Justice, the Minister for Human Rights and Social Dialogue, and the Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP)—abruptly cancelled all scheduled consultative meetings with the Commissioner.
While O’Flaherty managed to hold separate audiences with State Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac, Ombudsman Zoran Pašalić, and Commissioner for Equality Milan Antonijević, his final brief expressed deep skepticism regarding domestic checks and balances.
The report noted wide consensus among civil society that the Ombudsman (Zaštitnik građana) is completely failing to execute his human rights mandate. Furthermore, O’Flaherty stressed that recommendations by the Venice Commission regarding the controversial “Mrdić Laws” must be implemented immediately to rescue the structural autonomy of the prosecution.
Media Suffocation and the SLAPP Pipeline
The Council of Europe highlighted an existential threat to independent journalism in Serbia, framed by a rapidly shrinking space for public dissent ahead of the late-autumn snap elections:
- Physical Insecurity: Journalists and civil rights actors face escalating campaigns of physical intimidation, stalking, and harassment for criticizing ruling party policies.
- Systemic Impunity: Data compiled by the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists revealed that out of roughly 200 documented violent attacks against reporters across 2024 and 2025, only five cases concluded with a final judicial verdict.
- The SLAPP Weapon: Investigative reporters covering continuous anti-corruption probes and the ongoing student strikes are being hit with a wave of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) designed to bankrupt independent newsrooms.
- Market Distortion: The domestic media landscape has been entirely corrupted by the asymmetric distribution of public funds and state advertising budgets, which are routed exclusively into pro-government outlets.
The Novi Sad Repression: From Baton Charges to Sonic Weapons
The Commissioner’s report details a highly volatile environment regarding the right to peaceful assembly, noting a heavy-handed, violent response by law enforcement against public demonstrations sparked by the Novi Sad railway station canopy tragedy in November 2024.
[MUP LAW ENFORCEMENT DEFICIT UNDER COE SCRUTINY]
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[STATE-PROTECTED AGENTS] [THE CLIMATE OF IMPUNITY]
Masked, non-identified shock troops shielding Sustained refusal by internal affairs to audit
themselves behind police lines to beat protesters. documented physical abuse in detention blocks.
Most notably, the Council of Europe expressed deep alarm over the absolute refusal of the Serbian judiciary to launch an official investigation into the state’s alleged deployment of sonic weaponry against peaceful crowds on March 15, 2025, despite formal, signed testimonies submitted by more than 3,000 affected citizens.
Erasure of Civic Space: The “Foreign Agent” Narrative
O’Flaherty concluded his brief by describing an aggressive deterioration of the domestic civic sphere. Human rights defenders, anti-corruption watchdogs, and independent election-monitoring organizations are routinely demonized as “traitors” or “foreign agents” by state officials and coordinated tabloid smear campaigns.
The systemic paranoia has extended into public institutions, where the report documents retaliatory dismissals, intimidation, and career-ending harassment against public sector employees who participated in public vigils honoring the victims of the Novi Sad disaster.
