Original article (in Serbian) was published on 11/6/2026; Author: Stefan Kosanović
Government and opposition councilors in Ivanjica jointly condemned Informer’s reporting about local residents after the tabloid, a month earlier, labeled several residents and councilors as terrorists, alcoholics, and gamblers who were allegedly plotting an attack on Dragan J. Vučićević’s family home. The opposition’s proposal was unanimously supported by all 21 councilors present. “This is a small community – we all know each other. They couldn’t remain silent,” opposition councilor Ivan Jovićević told Raskrikavanje.
Despite the vote, Informer continued, even after the assembly session, to misleadingly claim that certain opposition figures from Ivanjica had been planning an attack on Vučićević’s house.
During a session of the Ivanjica Municipal Assembly, councilors voted on an opposition-backed agenda item condemning insults, targeting, and attacks against the citizens of Ivanjica published in the broadcasts and articles of the pro-government tabloid Informer.
“Mr. Milinković, I propose we resolve this quite simply. Let us adopt a conclusion today, and I ask that we vote on it: that the Ivanjica Municipal Assembly condemns the reporting by Informer and Glas Zapadne Srbije about the councilors and citizens of the Municipality of Ivanjica (…),” opposition councilor Milorad Dramićanin said.
The outcome of the vote was unusual by the standards of Serbian politics in recent years: the motion was adopted unanimously, with the support of both the ruling majority and the opposition. Twenty-one councilors voted in favor, while five abstained from voting and 11 were absent from the session.
Informer quickly reported on the decision on its website, claiming it had been “condemned” for, as it put it, “telling the truth.”
The pro-government Čačak-based news portal Glas Zapadne Srbije also covered the decision, claiming that the councilors had condemned Informer “without explaining why.”
That, however, is not true. Councilors devoted a significant portion of the session to discussing the tabloid’s reporting and the way in which some residents of Ivanjica had been falsely and misleadingly portrayed in its articles.
What did Informer actually publish?
The lead story in this tabloid a month ago claimed that “alcoholics, gamblers, and lazy blockaders were planning an attack on the family home of Dragan J. Vučićević in the village of Šarenik.”
The article first published photographs of people whom Informer described as “terrorists who attempted to desecrate the family property of editor Vučićević,” after which it identified by name several students and residents of Ivanjica. The tabloid singled out Dr. Branka Ćojbašić as the group’s leader, calling her an “alcoholic” and claiming that she was “rarely sober,” adding the comment: “These are the kind of people who treat us, and now they want to create chaos.”
As evidence for these claims, the article included a secretly recorded video filmed from a distance, showing several people standing beside a car on a gravel road, doing nothing in particular. The video itself provides no basis for Informer’s conclusion that they were planning an attack, nor does it show any action that would substantiate such allegations.
On the same day that Informer launched its campaign against the residents of Ivanjica, students and members of the local citizens’ assembly were visiting villages across the Ivanjica municipality as part of their outreach activities and conversations with local residents. One of the villages they visited was Šarenik.
The article also published footage from a security camera recorded in mid-July of last year, which Informer claimed showed an attack on Dragan J. Vučićević’s house and described as “an attack by terrorist blockaders from the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade.” The footage shows a single hooded individual carrying a flashlight approaching the house late at night. It is not visible what the person does after approaching the house, and shortly afterward they leave the scene.
Here again, it is unclear how Vučićević concluded that the individual was a student from the Faculty of Medicine.
Following the vote, Informer singled out SPS councilor Snežana Plavšić in its article, expressing surprise that she had also supported what it described as the “scandalous decision,” given that she had entered the local assembly on a coalition list with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
However, Plavšić was not the only member of the ruling majority to support the resolution. Eleven other councilors from the governing coalition – most of them from the SNS – also voted in favor of the proposal. Informer did not mention any of them in its article, nor did it express any surprise that they had supported it.
What preceded the vote in the Ivanjica Municipal Assembly?
During the Municipal Assembly session in Ivanjica, opposition councilors explicitly identified Informer and its owner, Dragan J. Vučićević, as those who, according to their claims, had used information obtained from within the town to publish and broadcast false and defamatory reports about the municipality’s residents and councilors.
Mihailo Marković, head of the Fight for Ivanjica council group from the National Movement of Serbia (NPS), specified that the disputed broadcast aired on May 10 between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m., after which the same content was rebroadcast every 15 minutes over the following 24 hours. Marković stated that the residents of Ivanjica – including councilors, a physician, and others – had been baselessly labeled as terrorists, attackers of private property, gamblers, and alcoholics, and that the respected physician Dr. Branka Ćojbašić had been subjected to particularly offensive insults.
Ivanjica Mayor Aleksandar Mitrović condemned the targeting of his fellow citizens on a personal level, but his statement was phrased so broadly that it provoked criticism from both the opposition and some of his coalition partners. He said that he “condemns any public targeting by any media outlet, from any side, concerning anyone’s private life.”
Ivan Jovićević, head of the New Face of Serbia – United for Ivanjica council group, told Raskrikavanje that he was satisfied with the outcome of the vote and that the opposition would continue to insist on addressing the issue, as, according to him, the residents of Ivanjica and opposition councilors have been targeted by tabloids for quite some time.
“This is a small community, we all know each other. The day before yesterday, we spent seven or eight hours discussing this issue almost the entire time. And they (the ruling coalition councilors, editor’s note), since they know that doctor and know us personally, couldn’t remain silent. Under our pressure, the matter was put to a vote, because the session wouldn’t have ended, not even the first item on the agenda – if they hadn’t agreed to hold the vote,” Jovićević said.
He maintains that neither he nor his fellow opposition councilors were in Šarenik, contrary to Informer’s allegations, nor do they appear in the footage that the tabloid published as alleged evidence.
He added that Dr. Branka Ćojbašić is among the most respected physicians in Ivanjica and that, as he put it, “50 percent of the town’s residents have chosen her as their doctor.” In his view, she likely became the target of the media campaign because her daughter is a university student, but also because the authorities in Ivanjica are trying to deepen divisions among local residents.
“All of us are already involved in court proceedings against him (Dragan J. Vučićević, editor’s note). I already have my first hearing from an earlier lawsuit against Informer, which begins in August. Councilor Vojin Dramićanin has also sued them over accusations that he had unlawfully occupied a building in the town center. And I believe Dr. Branka actually received grounds for yet another lawsuit just yesterday,” Jovićević said.
Jovićević also spoke to Raskrikavanje about the local television station Golija, which has recently come under the ownership of Best Media Team, a company jointly owned by Saša Blagojević, the owner of the tabloid Alo, and Dragan J. Vučićević.
According to Jovićević, the opposition has learned that Ivanjica Mayor Aleksandar Mitrović is personally seeking to recruit 12 new employees for the station through the National Employment Service.
Translated in English using AI tools, then thoughtfully refined by a human editor.
