Dinko GRUHONJIĆ
Image Credit: Medija centar Beograd/WikkiCommons
Dinko Gruhonjić, a journalist, writer, and lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy of Novi Sad in Vojvodina, northern Serbia, has been facing coordinated harassment, smears, and death threats since 14 March 2024, following the publication of an edited video in which Gruhonjić was falsely made to appear as welcoming his sharing a name with Dinko Šakić, who was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in World War II (see Case List 2025).
For example, on 16 February 2025, Gruhonjić received seven Facebook messages from different accounts. They included threats of sexual violence, as well as death threats, warning the journalist that his throat will soon be ‘cut’ and his ‘bones will be broken’. Two of the messages also threatened to ‘destroy’ the lives of Gruhonjić’s family members. On 30 September 2025, a further coordinated smear campaign was launched against several journalists in Belgrade and other cities (see Marko Vidojković below). Photographs of at least four journalists, including Dinko Gruhonjić, appeared on anonymous leaflets that were distributed in private mailboxes and in public spaces. The journalists were described as having ‘bloody hands’ and stood accused of organising the ‘colour revolution’, in reference to the protests that have taken place since the fatal collapse of the canopy at Novi Sad train station in November 2024. As of 31 December 2025, no one had been prosecuted for any of the threats, which he reported to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crimes (VTK). PEN International believes Gruhonjić is being targeted on account of his staunch criticism of nationalism and the glorification of war criminals.
Dinko Gruhonjić, born on 15 September 1970, is the author of three books – two on journalism Diskurs agencijskog novinarstva(Discourse of Agency Journalism) (2011) and Hibridni novinarski žanrovi (Hybrid Journalistic Genres) (2021) and one collection of his columns Ničim Izazvana Zbirka (Unprovoked Collection) (2012). He also works as Programme Director at the Vojvodina Association of Independent Journalists (NDNV).