Protesters entered a Serbian television station supportive of former President Aleksandar Vučić late on Monday, interrupting its broadcast to demand the arrest of its editor-in-chief, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a second night of celebrations following the election, the international news agency Reuters reported.
Serbia’s Student List, formed by a student-led anti-corruption protest movement, ousted Vučić in a historic election on Sunday, ending his 14 years in power. Vučić had served as Information Minister under Slobodan Milošević and had maintained tight control over the media.
Live footage broadcast by Informer TV showed around 30 people entering the station’s newsroom on Monday evening and surrounding its editor-in-chief and owner, Dragan Vučićević. Some protesters shouted, “This is what a free Serbia looks like” and “Where is Vučić now?” Others also demanded Vučićević’s arrest.
On his personal Instagram account, Vučić, wearing a T-shirt displaying the word “sorry” crossed out, described the incident as an attack on freedom of expression and press freedom.
CALLS FOR CALM
The student movement has no clearly defined leader, and Serbians are waiting to see whom it will appoint as prime minister and to other key positions. Ilija Srdanović, a cardiologist and the leading candidate on its electoral list, called for calm.
“We ask you to remain calm and dignified until the electoral process is complete, just as you have been so far,” he said in a video posted on his Instagram account. “Do not resort to any form of violence. Your Student List and your student movement are calling on you to do so.”
The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia said it would file a request on Tuesday to revoke Informer TV’s broadcasting licence, citing systematic violations of the law and programming obligations.
“On the first day of the Student List’s rule, they want to shut down the media. They have said everything about themselves and nothing about us,” Informer’s Vučićević told Reuters.
A group of people also gathered outside the pro-Vučić private television station Pink TV in Belgrade on Monday evening. The building was surrounded by police.
Earlier, the public broadcaster RTV in the Vojvodina region opened its evening news programme by apologising to viewers for failing to fulfil its role, citing biased and uncritical reporting.
The announcement recalled an action by Hungary’s main state television channel, which in July displayed a black screen carrying the message, “Public media cannot lie. We apologise for having done so for many years,” following the defeat of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in elections three months earlier.
Serbia ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. This was the country’s lowest position ever and the worst ranking in the EU and Balkans region.
Election-monitoring organisation Crta said last week that national television stations had allocated three-quarters of the airtime devoted to politicians to government representatives. The Student List was portrayed negatively in more than 80% of the instances in which it was discussed, Crta added.
