February 2025.
As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.
Four NGOs targeted by the Prosecutor’s Office and Police in Serbia – Stefanović: We have reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for the necessary information
Campaigns by pro-government media against civil society organizations (CSOs) are becoming more frequent in Serbia, and these are often encouraged and participated in by the highest-ranking government officials. In the context of the current student-civic protests, pressure on the domestic civil sector has been further intensified. At the end of February, a pre-investigation procedure was opened against four non-governmental organizations – the Center for Research, Transparency, and Accountability (CRTA), the Center for Practical Politics, the Trag Foundation, and Civil Initiatives.
There is a strong suspicion that this is a form of drastic pressure and an attempt to discredit civil society, raising questions about the legal grounds for initiating the procedure. However, all pro-government media outlets have actively reported on this issue, promoting long-established narratives against civil society. The article from Večernje Novosti titled “Four NGOs Targeted by the Prosecutor’s Office and Police in Serbia” effectively summarizes the accusations against CSOs.
It is stated that the “special department for combating corruption has initiated a pre-investigation procedure to determine the existence of elements of the criminal offense of abuse of office and money laundering… against currently unidentified individuals.” The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, emphasized, as reported by Večernje Novosti, that “the excessive concentration of funds in the accounts of several non-governmental organizations in Serbia, coupled with a non-transparent allocation process of funds to a narrow circle of NGOs and the absence of comprehensive financial reports, points… based on suspicion of the legality of the spending of USAID funds.”
Thus, the focus is on those non-governmental organizations that have received funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through projects in the past period. The USAID agency itself is at the center of contested moves by the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump, which froze all USAID projects for a three-month period. The Trump administration’s initiative aims to review and then halt most USAID programs, which are deemed inconsistent with the new government’s priorities, as well as to reduce overall costs and the number of USAID employees. Significant controversies surround the efforts and motives of the Trump administration in the “restructuring” of USAID. Numerous statements by Trump’s political allies in their campaign against USAID have been criticized, containing unfounded, unverified, or even misleading and inaccurate information about the agency’s activities.
However, it is precisely such statements that served the Serbian prosecution to form the aforementioned case related to four NGOs. Večernje novosti also reports that the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office “contacted the U.S. Department of Justice to request the necessary information regarding the suspicions raised by U.S. officials in the previous period about the misuse of funds, possible money laundering, and misappropriation of funds related to USAID.”
Furthermore, the statement reported by Večernje novosti mentions that “it was ordered that all documentation related to USAID donations be seized from the four NGOs for now, and that conversations be held with the responsible individuals from these NGOs.”
The collection of documentation from the four NGOs was reported by numerous pro-government media outlets at a time when police officers had not yet arrived at certain organizations, which raises reasonable suspicion that information from state institutions was leaked to pro-government media as part of a discrediting campaign. On the other hand, the organizations in question claim that this is purely political pressure on them and reject the grounds for initiating a preliminary investigation, noting that the largest recipients of USAID donations in Serbia are, in fact, state institutions, which are not included in the current procedure.
Author: Igor Mirosavljević
