The findings come as President Aleksandar Vucic prepares for early parliamentary elections on Oct. 18 or 25 — more than a year ahead of schedule — a demand students have pushed since May 2025 amid nationwide protests over a deadly infrastructure collapse.
According to the Serbian human rights group SHARE Foundation, 14 individuals were targeted this year, 12 of whom learned of the intrusions after Apple sent them threat notifications in August.
Toronto's Citizen Lab, which has completed forensic analysis of one device so far, confirmed it was infected with Pegasus, spyware developed by Israel's NSO Group; analysis of the other 11 cases continues. A second tool, a Serbian-made program called NoviSpy, was reportedly installed on another target's phone while that person was in police custody.
"Serbia's peaceful pro-democracy movement is under aggressive attack using commercial spyware ahead of pivotal elections", said Citizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton.
The surveillance adds to years of reported targeting of journalists and civil society figures in Serbia, SHARE Foundation said, but marks a sharp escalation in scale.
Protests that began after the Nov. 1, 2024, collapse of a train station roof in Novi Sad, which killed 16 people, have grown into a broader anti-government movement accusing officials of corruption and negligence.
(jh)
Source: PAP