Serbia Stays on Civil Liberties Watchlist over Increased Government Repression

Opposition leaders, protesters storm state TV building, police take them out

Serbia was once again placed on the watchlist of countries where civil liberties are rapidly deteriorating, it was announced on July 30.

The new watchlist was published by the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that follows the latest events in the field of civil liberties, including the freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, in 198 countries and territories.

This decision followed the increase in repression against students’ mass protests against corruption, persisting since November 2024 after the tragic collapse of an overhang at the Novi Sad railway station, when 16 people died. Serbia’s ongoing presence on the watchlist reflects the growing threat to the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and association, because the authorities use violence, surveillance and politically motivated persecution to silence critical voices, the Civic Initiatives organization has conveyed in their comment of the report.

The CIVICUS Monitor currently rates Serbia’s civil space as “obstructed,” which means that the civil society functions, but is facing serious legal and practical obstacles. “While the demonstrators persist in their demands for accountability and systemic changes, the authorities attempt to suppress their movement by a new wave of state violence. Serbian authorities actively punish the citizens who publicly declare demands before their leaders,” CIVICUS stated in the report and added that, in order to suppress students’ protests, they initiated a wave of violence by police and groups affiliated with the ruling party, with mass arrests, surveillance and intimidation.