The SafeJournalists Network strongly condemns the new attempt of digital surveillance of women journalists of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) in Serbia through Pegasus spyware. This is a serious violation of the right to privacy and safe work of journalists, noted by Amnesty International.

Two journalists of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) from Serbia were the target of a failed spying attempt using the Israeli Pegasus software, which, according to BIRN, was confirmed by a forensic analysis conducted by Amnesty International (AI). On February 14, 2025, less than an hour apart, both journalists received messages from the same number registered with the state operator Telekom Srbija. The messages contained text in Serbian and a malicious link that led to a fake version of the N1 portal.”

BIRN, after suspecting that it was an attempt at espionage, requested the help of the security laboratory AI. Their forensic analysis confirmed that the journalists were the targets of a failed attempt to install Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. The AI ​​concluded that it is highly likely that one or more actors from the Serbian state apparatus, or agents acting on their behalf, were involved in this latest use of Pegasus spyware to target two women BIRN investigative journalists.

The cases of BIRN journalists are the seventh and eighth in the last two years in which the security laboratory AI has discovered the use of Pegasus and Novy spy spy software against representatives of the media and civil society in Serbia.

Of particular concern is the fact that NSO Group apparently continues to allow the use of Pegasus software in Serbia, despite Amnesty International’s documentation of all cases proving its abuse in the country.

Following that report, Cellebrite, whose technology was also misused to monitor and eavesdrop on journalists and civil society activists in Serbia, decided to suspend the use of its digital forensics equipment for some of its clients in the country.

The SafeJournalists network calls on the competent institutions to investigate this case. None of the cases recorded by the AI ​​in the report in December last year have still not been solved.

Network calls on international media freedom organizations, donors, institutions of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the UN special mechanisms to pay attention to this alarming case and put pressure on the authorities in Serbia to stop illegal surveillance of journalists.

Also, we call on the company NSO Group to, like Cellebrite, revoke the licenses of users in Serbia due to misuse of digital forensic equipment.

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia will provide all necessary legal and psychological support to the injured women journalists.

The SafeJournalists Network will inform both national and international stakeholders about these troubling developments.

Any attack on journalists is an attack on democracy, public interest, and fundamental human rights.

Pristina – Skopje – Sarajevo – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica, 27.03.2025

Association of Journalists of Kosovo

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

BH Journalists Association

Croatian Journalists’ Association

Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia

Trade Union of Media of Montenegro

The source: IJAS

Photo by: Canva