Six journalists have left Serbia, latest to go is Aleksandar Radić

Six journalists have left Serbia over the past two years and now live in exile, citing threats to their safety. The most recent to depart is military analyst and reporter Aleksandar Radić, against whom a criminal complaint has been filed and for whom an arrest warrant has been issued.

One of the earlier, publicised departures was writer, columnist and TV host Marko Vidojković, who left Serbia in early 2023. Radić says he decided to go abroad because he feared for the safety of his family.

The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade filed a criminal complaint against Radić on suspicion of preparing acts against the constitutional order and security of Serbia and of disclosing classified information. Radić had previously said that at the protest in Belgrade on March 15, 2025 a "sound cannon" was used.

Search, surveillance and media exposure

After a search of his apartment and the seizure of computers, pro-government outlets published recordings from surveillance that showed Radić and his underage daughter. Radić has described the exposure of his child as decisive in the decision to leave Serbia.

"My daughter, who will turn 16 in a few days, became a target. What do you do when the enemies are numerous and when they endanger your child? We left the country," Radić said.

Veran Matić, chairman of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and a member of the Standing Working Group on Journalists' Safety, says the names of the other journalists in exile are not being published because some want to continue living and working normally and others are involved in specific legal situations. He says the six include an investigative reporter, a woman journalist who had faced sustained threats and insults, a local journalist who received death threats, and a journalist and university professor who for years was exposed to threats against him and his family.

Matić warned that pressures on journalists are not limited to open threats but also include media campaigns, institutional pressure, economic exhaustion, surveillance and legal uncertainty. He said the case of Radić could have broader consequences for press freedom and for the trust between journalists and their sources.

"The departure of journalists from Serbia is not only a personal tragedy for the individuals and their families, but a serious indicator of the state of democracy, the rule of law and freedom of the media. A society from which professional journalists leave because they cannot safely and freely do their work loses far more than a few experienced people — it loses the capacity to critically understand its own reality," Matić concluded.

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