N1 capture — coordinated elimination of last independent broadcaster

country

Serbia

authorization actor

Aleksandar Vučić (President) — via Telekom CEO Lučić; Vladimir Lučić (Telekom CEO) — direct coordination with Miller; Nikos Stathopoulos (BC Partners chairman) — confirmed by Lučić in recording

created at

2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00

end date text

Ongoing

id

SRB-CAMP-013

incident count

5

incident ids

institutional consequence

N1 News Director Božić dismissed April 2026; United Media CEO Subotić dismissed Feb 2026; ANN restructuring separates N1/Nova S from independent editorial governance; N1/Nova S removed from satellite service April 2025; KRIK ordered to hand over OCCRP recording to prosecutors (Oct 2025)

needs review

false

notes

SCOPE BOUNDARY NOTE: This campaign targets independent media infrastructure serving civil society — not civil society directly. Included because: (1) same structural enabler (Telekom/Lučić, cross-ref SRB-053/SRB-063); (2) same narrative architecture (foreign interference, destabilization, terrorism framing) used in core CSO campaigns; (3) N1 serves as primary amplification and credibility layer for civil society — its capture removes the information infrastructure that makes CSO work visible and trusted. Doctrine layer connection: Telekom/Lučić thread runs through both SRB-CAMP-012 (Kurir capture) and this campaign — same infrastructure, same actor, different target. OCCRP/KRIK recording (Aug 2025) constitutes primary Phase 1 authorization evidence — verbatim Lučić: "President Vučić asked Nikos to replace only Aleksandra Subotić, not the directors of N1, as he was aware that it is difficult now to change the director of N1." This is the most documented case of presidential interference in media ownership in the database — audio confirmed authentic by United Group.

phase pattern

Authorization (Vučić via Lučić, Aug 2025) → Structural enablement (Subotić dismissal, ANN restructuring Feb 2026) → Institutional operationalization (Božić dismissal Apr 2026)

report ids

start date text

Apr 2025

trigger event

Sustained student protests following Novi Sad railway station collapse (November 2024) — N1 coverage of protests triggers state effort to capture or neutralize the broadcaster.

trigger type

Civic Mobilization (student protests / anti-government movement)

N1 capture — coordinated elimination of last independent broadcaster

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