Attacks on students and journalists in the Bor local elections

Category: Violence against citizens

Period: from 29 Mar 2026

Outcome: Under investigation (as of 16 Apr 2026)

In the local elections in Bor on 29 March 2026, students from mobile teams, observers and journalists were attacked. Revolt journalist Lazar Dinić, who says he was beaten until the bones in his face were broken, needed surgery. CRTA said the police were largely failing to intervene, and Students in Blockade said the face of Belgrade city secretary Dejan Kesar can be seen in footage of the attack. The Bor Basic Public Prosecutor's Office opened a case over the attacks on journalists, but by mid-April the attackers had not been identified, and there is no data on any action taken regarding Kesar.

Attacks on students and observers

According to Students in Blockade, a student was beaten outside polling station 40 in Bor, and near the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund building, which also houses offices of the SNS, two members of a mobile team suffered head injuries. A CRTA observer was also injured.

CRTA said the police mostly do not intervene against the attackers.

Attack on Revolt journalists

In the village of Šarbanovac, near polling station 34, masked men attacked Revolt journalists Lazar Dinić and Ivan Bjelić and photojournalist Zorica Popović.

Dinić says they beat him until the bones in his face were broken and until he said “Aca for president”; he needed surgery. Bjelić says the police let the attackers' car go, saying “you know how it is here”.

City secretary in the footage

Students in Blockade said the face of Dejan Kesar, Belgrade's city secretary for general affairs, can be seen in footage of the attack, and N1 reports that eyewitnesses recognised him in the footage, along with Voždovac councillor Stojan Jovanović.

Kesar, Jovanović and Mayor Šapić did not respond to N1's questions. SRCE called for Kesar's dismissal and an investigation.

The prosecution and the unidentified attackers

The Bor Basic Public Prosecutor's Office opened a case over the attacks on journalists. The prosecutor ordered that the complaints of the beaten journalists be taken and asked the Interior Ministry to identify the attackers, whom he accuses of violent behaviour and grievous bodily harm.

As of 16 April 2026, the attackers had not been identified and no indictment had been filed, and there is no data on any action taken regarding Kesar.

Lazar Dinić followed

In November 2026, Dinić said a black SUV had followed him on his way home and that an unknown person had photographed the terrace of his flat. According to him, the police came out to the scene and informed the prosecutor.

The Civil Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy called on the police and prosecutors to review surveillance camera footage, establish who had followed him and protect him, and to ensure that the Bor attacks get an effective resolution in court.

Participants

Dejan Kesar: According to Students in Blockade, he can be seen as one of the attackers in footage of the attack on the student mobile team in Bor; he has not answered questions (responsible)
Stojan Jovanović: According to eyewitnesses, he was allegedly in Bor with Dejan Kesar, alongside people who, according to students, carried an axe and inflicted injuries (responsible)
Bor Police Department: According to those attacked and CRTA, police officers at the scene did not stop the attackers and let the car of the axe-wielding attackers go (responsible)
Serbian Progressive Party: According to CRTA and eyewitnesses, the men who attacked students in Bor came out of its headquarters, and its offices are in the building outside which the attacks took place (responsible)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Bor: It opened a case over the attack on journalists and asked the police to identify the attackers (investigation and courts)
Students in blockade: Members of their mobile teams were attacked in Bor; they published footage of the attack in which, they say, Dejan Kesar can be seen (harmed)
CRTA (Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability): As an observer mission, it reported on the attacks in Bor, in which one of its own observers was also injured (oversight and the public)
Serbia Centre (SRCE): It called for Dejan Kesar's dismissal and a prosecutors' investigation into the attack on the student mobile team (oversight and the public)
Mila Popović: Citing a video from Bor, she wrote that city secretary Dejan Kesar is “spreading fear in Bor” (oversight and the public)
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy: He asked the police and the prosecution to investigate Lazar Dinić's claims that he was followed after the attack in Bor, and to protect him (oversight and the public)