A Belgrade court ordered the owner of the Serbian daily ‘Informer’ to pay 80,000 Dinars (US$ 835) to the chief editor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, for tarnishing his honor in an article from March 2016.

Monday's front page of the Serbian pro-government tabloid Informer renewed attacks on independent news organizations, accusing them of being “liars and racketeers” paid by the European Union and the US.

Two contracts, published by the Serbian Center for Investigative Journalism (CINS) on Monday, illustrate how generous a Serbian government agency has been in providing financial aid to a local private TV channel mostly known for running reality shows, telenovelas and “American Idol”-type singing competitions. The highly popular, privately owned TV Pink, watched daily by millions of people in the Balkans, has also been a platform for government-friendly propaganda.