Former Serbian Agriculture Minister and former director of Serbia’s railway infrastructure company, Jelena Tanasković, has filed a third lawsuit linked to investigative outlet KRIK, this time targeting journalist Sofija Parojčić and seeking 333,333 dinars in compensation for alleged emotional distress caused by a video published on social media.
A preparatory hearing in the case was held at the First Basic Court in Belgrade on October 28. Parojčić, who no longer works for KRIK, is being sued over a video posted on the outlet’s social media accounts that recalled Tanasković’s first lawsuit against the newsroom and KRIK’s investigation into a dismissed criminal complaint involving suspected financial misconduct at the company Prvi Faktor.
KRIK’s lawyer, Kruna Savović, argued that the latest case was another example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation, commonly known as a SLAPP lawsuit. She asked the court to examine the files from Tanasković’s previous cases against the outlet at the Higher Court in Belgrade.
The court ordered that both Tanasković and Parojčić be questioned, that the files from the earlier proceedings be obtained, and that the video recording be examined.
The First Basic Court initially dismissed the lawsuit, accepting the argument that proceedings concerning the same matter were already underway before the Higher Court. However, the Higher Court overturned that decision and returned the case for a new trial, explaining that the lawsuit concerned a separate social media video and that Parojčić was being sued as an individual.
Three lawsuits linked to KRIK reporting
Tanasković first sued KRIK in late 2024, seeking one million dinars in damages over an investigative report concerning a criminal complaint filed against her in 2016 by her former company, Prvi Faktor.
According to KRIK’s investigation, the complaint alleged that Tanasković had caused approximately €2 million in losses to the company through fictitious debts.
KRIK reported that the complaint remained at the police for five years before being dismissed shortly after Ninoslav Cmolić became head of Serbia’s Organized Crime Service, known as SBPOK. Cmolić is married to Serbian Minister Irena Vujović, a longtime friend and former superior of Tanasković, according to the report.
The second lawsuit followed just one month later. Tanasković again sought one million dinars, this time over KRIK’s report that she had filed the first lawsuit.
In that case, she argued that the article had portrayed her as a “killer” and a “criminal,” although KRIK said those descriptions did not appear in the text. During the proceedings, Tanasković reportedly acknowledged that the articles did not contain the specific statements she disputed, saying her complaint was based on her overall impression of the coverage.
The third lawsuit focuses on the social media video summarizing the earlier dispute and the underlying investigation.
KRIK maintains that the lawsuits are intended to pressure the newsroom and its journalists, intimidate them financially and discourage reporting on matters of public interest.
Such cases are commonly described as SLAPP lawsuits when they are alleged to use legal action to burden or silence public-interest reporting, although the classification and merits of each individual case remain matters for the courts.
The main hearing in the latest case has been scheduled for February 3, 2027.
