{"id":976,"date":"2025-12-10T16:56:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gradjanske.vuksha.com\/stojanovic-serbia-in-2025-will-be-marked-by-an-unprecedented-struggle-for-human-rights-and-increased-repression\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:25:31","slug":"stojanovic-serbia-in-2025-will-be-marked-by-an-unprecedented-struggle-for-human-rights-and-increased-repression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gradjanske.vuksha.com\/en\/stojanovic-serbia-in-2025-will-be-marked-by-an-unprecedented-struggle-for-human-rights-and-increased-repression\/","title":{"rendered":"Stojanovi\u0107: Serbia in 2025 will be marked by an unprecedented struggle for human rights and increased repression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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December 10, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Source: N1 Belgrade<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The current year was marked by Serbia’s very poor level in the area of \u200b\u200bhuman rights, but also by an unprecedented struggle for them, said Maja Stojanovi\u0107 from Civic Initiatives.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Commenting on the fact that Civicus Monitor announced<\/a><\/strong> in its latest report that it had lowered the assessment of the civic space in Serbia to the level of “under repression”, which represents a turning point after years of escalating attacks on fundamental freedoms, Stojanovi\u0107 stated in a guest appearance on N1 Television that when it comes to respecting human rights, which must be guaranteed by the state, Serbia was at a very poor level in 2025. <\/p>\n\n

“What somehow marked the year for me, unlike some previous ones, was the great fight for human rights and the fight for the rule of law, starting with students, then citizens and all other segments of society. Probably because of that fight and because citizens have seen the level of human rights for years, we have had this increased repression, but I would say never before, the fight for human rights since 2000,” she said.<\/p>\n\n

He believes that the struggle will continue, because we have not reached the “light at the end of the tunnel.”<\/p>\n\n

“What is important to me is that I see success in the fact that this fight is consistent, that it is repeated day after day. It seems to me that these local elections that we know this year were also under significant attacks by the authorities during the elections themselves. Even those elections in which the previous government retained power and this year, the increase in people who voted for the opposition, the way in which citizens fought for those elections shows that it is now clear to all of us that democracy is fought for every day – not only now while we want to establish the basic criteria of democracy, but also later when that democracy stops. We cannot simply stop,” says Stojanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n

In the Civicus Monitor report, Serbia is placed in the “under repression” category, which is the second lowest in the global framework, and Stojanovi\u0107 points out that the problem is that we are currently at such a low level that basic rights and freedoms are simply not guaranteed for any citizen.<\/p>\n\n

“On a human level, this means that the law simply does not apply to everyone, that the law is applied selectively. And it seems to me that now, also because of N1 television, most citizens are aware of how people’s rights are violated, how many people are fired, how students are arrested, what kind of police torture is. It simply shows how the state applies the law to those who are trying to fight for human rights,” says N1’s interlocutor.<\/p>\n\n

One of the things that made Serbia so low on the list is the pressure on the judiciary.<\/p>\n\n

“We know that our judiciary has not been completely free for a long time, but what has happened this year, when the president himself threatens judges and officials who are doing their job, various dismissals and changes in the judiciary indicate exactly how the state actually views the judiciary. In the last few months, we have also had various public officials calling out judges by name. There are various smear campaigns against them. So, any judge who has decided to apply the law in a case or a prosecutor who has filed indictments for certain things, such as this Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime regarding the issue of the canopy, are simply under enormous pressure,” says Stojanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n

When it comes to the situation in the media, she states that the media is under great pressure.<\/p>\n\n

“We know that the situation is already dark. I will just remind you of the campaign from 2017 and 2018 about the media darkness, which we called it back then, and the situation is simple, similar to the judiciary. The situation was dark before this. What is happening now is much more naked pressure, attacks on the UM group and the ways in which pressure is being exerted on private owners to change editorial policy or resign in the media is an indicator, but what is also happening is great pressure on journalists and local media that have been reporting very well on the protest all these years,” says Stojanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n

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