Other threats to journalists, BIRN, Belgrade, 14.2.2025.

IJAS •︎ 14/02/2025

Other threats to journalists, BIRN, Belgrade, 14.2.2025.

Translations: Beograd 

  • Case info

  • Personal info

  • Regional center
    Belgrade
  • Who was attacked?
    Journalist
  • Gender
    Female
  • Victim(s) name
    Women journalists from BIRN

  • Media outlet

  • Name of the media outlet
    BIRN
  • Type of media platform
    Online Media
  • Source of information about the incident
    BIRN

  • Incident Data

  • Date of incident
    14.02.2025
  • City
    Beograd
  • Perpetrator(s)
    Not known
  • Means of incidents and attacks
    Telephone (Call or sms)
  • Type of incident
    Other threats to journalists
  • Type of threat
    Surveillance

  • Action by the authorities

  • Action taken by the journalists' association

  • Was journalist's association informed by the journalists directly?
    No
  • What was the reaction of the journalists' association?
    The association reacted publicly
    The association informed international organizations and institutions

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.