Protesters storm Serbian pro-Vucic TV station after his loss at polls

On his personal Instagram account, President Vucic called the incident an attack on free speech and the freedom of journalism.

Protesters confront Informer TV editor Dragan Vucicevic at the station’s office in Belgrade, Serbia, on October 26, 2026, in this screengrab from a social media video [TikTok @veljars/Reuters]

Protesters stormed a Serbian television station supportive of former President Aleksandar Vucic, interrupting broadcasting to call for the arrest of its editor, as tens of thousands took to the ‌streets for a second night of post-election celebrations late Monday after his defeat at the polls.

Live footage broadcast by Informer TV showed about 30 people entering its newsroom on Monday evening and surrounding editor-in-chief and owner Dragan Vucicevic. Some protesters shouted, “This is how it is in free Serbia!” and “Where is Vucic now?” Others called for Vucicevic’s arrest.

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On his personal Instagram account, Vucic, dressed in a jumper displaying the crossed-out word “sorry”, called the incident an attack on free speech and the freedom of journalism.

Serbia’s Student List, born out of a student-led anticorruption protest movement, defeated Vucic’s alliance in a historic election on Sunday, bringing to an end his party’s 14-year grip on power. Vucic, who became prime minister in 2014 and president in 2017, previously served as information minister under Slobodan Milosevic and maintained tight control over the media during his rule.

Celebrations erupted across Serbia, with fireworks lighting the sky almost immediately after Vucic made an announcement conceding defeat.

“It means freedom from a dictatorship that has lasted for 12 years, that I cannot remember a time before,” voter Jana Vasic told Al Jazeera.

The student movement has no clear leader, and Serbians are waiting to see whom it will appoint as prime minister and to other key positions. The leading candidate on its election list, cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic , called for calm.

“We ask of you to stay calm and dignified until the end of the electoral process, just like you have been until now,” he said in a video posted on his Instagram account. “Don’t resort to any form of violence. Your Student List and your student movement urge you on this.”

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia said in a ‌statement ⁠that it would submit an application on Tuesday to have Informer TV’s broadcasting licence revoked, citing systematic violations of law and programme obligations.

Public broadcaster apology

Meanwhile, Informer’s Vucicevic released a statement saying, “On the very first day of [Student List] power, they want to ban the media. They have said everything about themselves, and nothing about us.”

In a separate development, a group of people also gathered outside the private pro-Vucic Pink TV station in Belgrade on Monday evening, which was cordoned off by police.

Earlier, public ⁠broadcaster RTV in the Vojvodina region began its evening news bulletin by apologising to viewers for failing to fulfil its role, citing uncritical, one-sided reporting.

Serbia was ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, its lowest position ever ⁠and worst in the European Union-Balkan region.

The Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (Crta) election monitor said last week that television stations with national reach gave three-quarters of the time allotted to politicians to government representatives. The Student List was portrayed negatively more than 80 percent of the time it was discussed, Crta added.

武契奇总统在他的个人Instagram账号上称这一事件是对言论自由和新闻自由的攻击。

2026年10月26日，在塞尔维亚贝尔格莱德，抗议者在电视台办公室与Informer TV编辑德拉甘·武契切维奇对峙。这张截图来自社交媒体视频[TikTok @veljars/Reuters]

周一晚间，数万民众走上街头，连续第二个晚上举行选举后庆祝活动，抗议者冲击了一家支持前总统亚历山大·武契奇的塞尔维亚电视台，中断了广播，并呼吁逮捕该电视台的编辑。此前，武契奇在选举中落败。

Informer TV的现场直播画面显示，周一晚间约有30人闯入该报社的编辑部，包围了总编辑兼老板德拉甘·武契切维奇。一些抗议者高喊：“这就是自由塞尔维亚的现状！”和“武契切维奇现在在哪儿？”另一些人则呼吁逮捕武契切维奇。

塞尔维亚“学生”在选举胜利后连续第二个晚上庆祝（共4个列表，第1个）

武契奇之后的塞尔维亚：谁将担任总理？何时组建政府？（共 4 个问题，此为第 2 个）

列表 3/4：塞尔维亚学生推翻武契奇政府

列表 4（共 4 条）武契奇的败选对塞尔维亚外交政策意味着什么

武契奇在他的个人 Instagram 账户上，身穿一件印有被划掉的“对不起”字样的套头衫，称这一事件是对言论自由和新闻自由的攻击。

由学生领导的反腐败抗议运动催生的塞尔维亚学生名单党，在周日的历史性选举中击败了武契奇的联盟，结束了武契奇党长达14年的执政。武契奇于2014年出任总理，2017年当选总统，此前曾在斯洛博丹·米洛舍维奇执政期间担任新闻部长，并在米洛舍维奇执政期间对媒体实行严密控制。

塞尔维亚各地爆发了庆祝活动，武契奇宣布承认败选后，烟花几乎立即照亮了夜空。

“这意味着摆脱了长达 12 年的独裁统治，我以前从未经历过这样的时期，”选民 Jana Vasic 告诉半岛电视台。

学生运动目前没有明确的领导人，塞尔维亚民众正等待其任命总理及其他重要职位的人选。该运动候选人名单上的领衔人物、心脏病专家伊利亚·斯尔达诺维奇呼吁各方保持冷静。

“我们要求你们保持冷静和尊严，直到选举进程结束，就像你们一直以来所做的那样，”他在Instagram账号上发布的视频中说道。“不要诉诸任何形式的暴力。你们的学生名单和学生运动都敦促你们这样做。”

塞尔维亚独立记者协会在一份声明中表示，将于周二提交申请，要求吊销 Informer TV 的广播许可证，理由是该电视台系统性地违反了法律和节目义务。

公共广播公司道歉

与此同时，《告密者报》的武契切维奇发表声明称：“学生名单党上台的第一天，他们就想封杀媒体。他们只谈论自己，却只字未提我们。”

另据报道，周一晚上，一群人聚集在贝尔格莱德亲武契奇的私人电视台 Pink 外，警方已将其封锁。

此前，伏伊伏丁那地区的公共广播公司RTV在晚间新闻节目中向观众道歉，称其未能履行职责，并指出其报道缺乏批判性，存在片面性。

在无国界记者组织发布的 2026 年世界新闻自由指数中，塞尔维亚在 180 个国家中排名第 104 位，这是其有史以来的最低排名，也是欧盟巴尔干地区排名最差的。

研究、透明与问责中心（Crta）的选举观察员上周表示，全国性电视台将分配给政治人物的四分之三的发言时间都给了政府代表。Crta还补充说，在讨论学生名单的80%以上的时间里，该名单都被负面报道。