A large group of citizens gathered this evening outside the newsroom of the pro-government tabloid Informer in Belgrade, with some of the crowd subsequently entering the building. Informer editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vučićević claimed during a live broadcast that a hostage crisis was unfolding and urged the police to react urgently.
Vučićević stated: "Someone will be killed, there are children in the building," asserting that it was only a matter of time before the crowd broke into the premises and attacked staff. He also claimed that the people outside the building were drunk. During the broadcast, he publicly called Ilija Srdanović, the leader of the victorious Student List, to react and stop the crowd. He attempted to call the police but said no one was answering. He told a colleague to call an ambulance because, according to him, Nina Kuburović had suffered an epileptic seizure.
Shortly afterwards, some of the gathered citizens entered the Informer premises. Vučićević told the citizens: "I have never said you are Ustashas". There is currently no official police information regarding any incidents, injuries or arrests during this evening's gathering.
Informer had published earlier in the day that Vučićević had been subjected to a large number of calls and threats after his private numbers were published on social media. Vučićević claimed this morning that people had come to his house during the night, ringing the doorbell and shouting, waking his children. Milomir Jaćimović also appeared outside Informer today with his bus. Informer accused Jaćimović of coming to block the newsroom, while Jaćimović told journalists that he is extending a hand of reconciliation to everyone and has no personal political plan.
Vučićević also called a protest outside Informer a hostage crisis in March 2025. At that time, several thousand students and citizens gathered outside the building over how Informer had reported on student protests. Students claimed they were not blocking the building and were not preventing staff from entering or leaving. Vučićević then spoke of the newsroom being held hostage by demonstrators, which independent journalistic sources later disputed.
Informer has for years been one of the loudest media allies of Aleksandar Vučić and his government. During this year's election campaign, it particularly attacked the Student List and its leader Ilija Srdanović. Raskrikavanje established in early October that Informer had published a falsified extract from the Croatian land registry attributing a house in Croatia to Srdanović that does not belong to him. Vučićević called Srdanović a scoundrel, a scum and a human scab in his shows, and made a series of other accusations against him. After the Student List's victory and Vučić's admission of defeat, Informer continued to report extremely negatively on the election winners, using terms such as blockaders and extremists.
Among those who entered the Informer newsroom is Dijana Hrka, the mother of the tragically deceased Stefan Hrka, who died in a canopy collapse. Dijana Hrka told Vučićević: "You called my dead child a Ustasha". The crowd sang to Vučićević: "Put the head back on the horse, Dragane, Dragane".
A group of citizens who broke into the Informer newsroom created complete chaos. Police appeared, attempting to contain the situation. The newsroom is slowly emptying, but the most zealous are still unwilling to leave the premises. Journalists and citizens are insulting each other, computers are on the floor, and it appears that the number of citizens outside the newsroom is increasing.
