The Serbian Public Prosecutor for Organized Crime charged 20 people described as leaders and members of the so-calledBalkan cartel, suspected of trafficking tons of cocaine, the KRIK news outlet, OCCRP’s Serbian partner,reported earlier this week.

KRIK, a Serbian investigative outlet and partner of OCCRP, is facing another lawsuit in response to its report on alleged connections between a Serbian businessman close to President Aleksandar Vučić and a criminal involved in international drug trafficking.

A Serbian court has ruled against the investigative news outlet and OCCRP partnerKRIK, in a move that journalists and media observers see as the latest attack on press freedom in Serbia.

Three frivolous lawsuits known as SLAPPS have been filed in the past month against OCCRP’s Serbian member center KRIK, making a total of 10 legal actions currently facing the Belgrade-based investigative media outlet. These SLAPPS, short for “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” which are brought against journalists in order to silence them, appear to be part of a coordinated campaign by political powers to weaken KRIK and further quash independent media in the country.

The team of journalists at KRIK. Credit: Oliver Bunic (NIN)

The alleged owner of a cannabis farm sued the Serbian investigative portal KRIK for calling him an “accused narco boss,” although the man is currently on trial for growing more than a tonne of the banned weed. Journalist associations said on Wednesday that the lawsuit is aimed to stop KRIK from reporting about the case.

Pro-government tabloids in Serbia launched on Friday a smear campaign against independent investigative outlet KRIK after it published transcripts from the prosecutor's questioning of the suspected leader of a brutal criminal group who claimed the country’s President Aleksandar Vucic repeatedly asked him for favors.

Citing procedural errors, Serbia's Supreme Court of Cassation annulled on Tuesday the final ruling against Serbian drug lord Darko Šarić and other cocaine smugglers, and remanded the case to the Court of Appeals.

OCCRP’s Kyrgyzstan-based member center Kloop was among 13 organizations to win a Sigma Award on Wednesday, while OCCRP’s Serbian member center KRIK was one of seven shortlisted for an “outstanding” data journalism project following 545 entries from 267 organizations across 68 countries.

Serbian businessman Stanko Subotić is suing the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, its publisher Drew Sullivan, and Dragana Pećo, a reporter from its Serbian partner KRIK, claiming they are part of a media campaign against him orchestrated by the secret service and the mafia, OCCRP announced Friday.

Serbia’s pro-government media launched a coordinated smear campaign against reporters of the investigative outlet KRIK on Tuesday, linking them to a recently arrested crime boss the same reporters investigated and determined to have frequently socialized with the president’s son.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is deeply concerned by a mounting assault by Serbian tabloid news outlets on our colleague, Stevan Dojčinović, who is both an OCCRP regional editor and the editor in chief of KRIK, a major Serbian news outlet focusing on crime and corruption.

After a coordinated campaign by pro-government tabloids to spread false accusations that KRIK had ties to a murderous Serbian gang, readers responded with graffiti using the hashtag #podrziKRIK, or "support KRIK".

U.S. authorities have arrested the alleged leader of a criminal clan known asGroup America, believed to have smuggled tons of cocaine across the world. The gang is known for dismembering enemies with chainsaws, assassinating senior government officials and cooperating with intelligence agencies.

With the help of Serbia’s Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA), police in Belgrade arrested 17 people suspected of being members of an organized group that committed serious crimes, including kidnappings and murders, Serbian authorities said Thursday.

Ending a decade-long trial, the Court of Appeal in Belgradeconfirmed on Monday the 15-year prison sentence for Serbian drug lordDarko Šarić who headed a gang that smuggled nearly six tonnes of cocaine from South America to Europe.

After reporters again caught his son in company of alleged members of a drug trafficking clan, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić hinted on Friday that journalists were painting a target on his son’s forehead but that he will fight with all the strength he has and “defeat their lies.”

Following a tip from a reader, a reporter from OCCRP’s Serbian partnerKRIK managed on Wednesday evening to take a photo of the son of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in company with organized crime figures, adding proof to previous allegations about Danilo Vučić’s connections with the underworld.

Serbian investigative outlet KRIK is facing a public smear campaign from the Serbian state which is trying to discredit parts of an investigation KRIK has published in collaboration with OCCRP earlier in  May on the long and violent history of two organized crime groups from Montenegro, the Council of Europe stated on Monday. 

Reacting to an investigation into criminal gangs, Serbian pro-government tabloids on Wednesday unleashed a barrage of coverage echoing statements from political leaders who accused journalists of targeting the president’s son on behalf of the opposition. 

Nenad Popovic, a nationalist Serbian minister known for his ties to the Kremlin, took part in a dubious privatization that drove a major electrical transformer manufacturer into bankruptcy. Years later, no charges have been filed.

Stanko Subotic, a businessman twice indicted for cigarette smuggling and known for his links to an alleged drug lord, is set to make millions from the expansion of Belgrade's airport.

Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. (Photo: KRIK)