Nikola Ristic is often on the streets. The young activist led the protests in Belgrade in early November. At that time, Serbs demanded the resignations of politicians after the canopy of the Novi Sad central station collapsed and killed 15 people.
Ristic was detained by police and interrogated at the Serbian intelligence agency BIA. ”It seemed more like an attempt to convince me to give up this activism of mine”, he told the investigative journalism collective BIRN. During the interrogation, Ristic's phone was taken to another room. This week, BIRN and ”Amnesty International” revealed that the activist's phone had spy software installed on it - NoviSpy.
Full access to the monitored device
Serbian authorities have long used their own and Israeli software to wiretap the phones of activists and journalists - this is an "public secret" in the country. Now, however, the phones of dozens of activists and journalists have been examined and there is already evidence. The police and intelligence have broken through the protection of the devices with software from the Israeli company Cellebrite, and then installed the NoviSpy tracking program. Thus, Serbian intelligence has obtained all contacts, screen images that reveal everything that the person does on their device, and even the possibility of the microphone and camera being turned on remotely.
These revelations come at a time of political chaos in Serbia. Protests against the authorities do not stop, and students are blocking universities. They accuse the government of corruption and incompetence, which they say led to the tragedy in Novi Sad.
Serbia has been ruled with an iron fist by Aleksandar Vucic for 12 years. Although his powers as president are limited, he also controls the government through his ruling party. Elections, major media outlets and state-owned businesses are also under Vucic's control. The Serbian president calls protesters enemies of the country in his daily televised speeches.
"The End of Critical Thinking"
Journalist Nedim Sejdinovic is not surprised by the spying revelations. "Over the years, the state has spared no expense in achieving its goal of completely putting an end to critical thinking," says Sejdinovic. Journalists are now at additional risk, as are their sources.
Belgrade denies everything that "Amnesty International" accuses the country of. The intelligence service said it works in accordance with the law and that the "sensationalist report" did not deserve comment. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, a pro-Russian hardliner from a small party that is a coalition partner of Vucic, called the report "a continuation of the hybrid war against Serbia". Vulin has been agitating for the introduction of a law on "foreign agents" along the lines of Russia.
"The software is not intended for such purposes"
The Israeli company Cellebrite, whose software is used by the FBI, is indeed cooperating with the Serbian authorities. The company insists the software is not intended for such purposes. “If these allegations are true, it would potentially violate our contracts,” marketing director David Gee told Reuters. In that case, Serbian authorities would be forced to stop using the technology.
What is particularly problematic is that Serbia gained access to this software with funding from Norway through the United Nations. The goal was to help Belgrade meet European Union standards for fighting organized crime.
Threats against critics of the government
Civil society in Serbia is worried. “We see that the state is serving a single political party and the cult of personality towards Vucic is deepening,” said Zoran Gavrilovic of the Social Research Service, which monitors the media. "The aim of this spying is to force journalists and civil society to stop doing their jobs," Gavrilovic warns.
Critics say that Vucic's authority is now being seriously questioned for the first time. The reason - the protests are mainly led by young people. The University of Belgrade has stopped work, as have a number of other higher education institutions. Many high school students are also protesting.
Intensifying repression?
Vucic has made small concessions - he has demanded the resignations of two ministers and some civil servants have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the incident in Novi Sad. But this does not satisfy the protesters. According to them, Vucic himself is the big problem. Several times, criminal gangs linked to Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party have attacked peaceful demonstrators in order to provoke conflict.
That's why Gavrilovic and other critics of the Serbian president are worried about increased repression and surveillance. "The protests are in the name of democracy, and our government calls them subversion and an attempt to bring about a color revolution like Maidan. In fact, Vucic not only does not tolerate democracy, but also any criticism of society in general,” says Gavrilovic.
Author: Nemanja Rujevic