BIA reportedly wiretapped prosecutors investigating Novi Sad canopy collapse
Alleged intercepts — formally justified by suspected espionage — covered calls and email exchanges tied to the corruption probe into the Novi Sad station reconstruction.
Serbia’s Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) monitored telephone calls and electronic communications of several prosecutors who were handling corruption probes connected to the reconstruction of the rail line toward Hungary and the Novi Sad station, according to a recent report. The reconstruction case is linked to the tragic collapse of a station canopy that killed 16 people.
The surveillance allegedly covered conversations between the targeted prosecutors and their colleagues, including exchanges with Chief Public Prosecutor Mladen Nenadić. An anonymous source quoted in the report said the intercepts yielded information about planned actions in other criminal cases.
Timing and formal justification
The measures were reportedly authorised on the grounds of suspected espionage, with wiretap orders dated 9 and 30 April, 29 May, 19 June and 7 October 2026. The monitoring is said to have continued until 29 October 2026, when BIA director Vladimir Orlić initiated a halt to the secret surveillance.
The publication of the claims comes as a separate oversight review is under way into prosecutorial practice. A commission attached to the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office is examining the legality of actions by the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office, including files tied to the canopy collapse, a fatality in Senjak and alleged use of a sound cannon against demonstrators.
According to the same accounts, the checks also cover the authorisations for interception and plea agreements with defendants. The Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office has stated it granted the commission access to every file it requested.
There has been no official response from the BIA or the prosecutor’s office to the specific allegations. The revelations coincided with the two‑year anniversary in Novi Sad of the canopy collapse that claimed 16 lives and sparked a broad student movement that later helped the Student List win seats in parliamentary elections.
Photo: press material from the event
