None of the SNS Activists Who Attacked a Female Student in Novi Sad Are on the Party’s Electoral List
Four Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) activists accused of attacking a female student in Novi Sad in January 2025 are not on the electoral list of the coalition led by the party for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October 2026.
- A claim has circulated on social media that one of the SNS activists involved in the attack on a female student is on the party’s electoral list.
- The attack took place in Novi Sad on the night of 27–28 January 2025.
- The identities of the four defendants were publicly known, and their names had also been published in the media.
- A check of the electoral list shows that none of their names appears among the candidates for the 2026 parliamentary elections.
- We rate the posts as false.
A collage circulating on social media claims that one of the Serbian Progressive Party activists who attacked a female student in Novi Sad in January 2025, causing her serious bodily injuries, is on the party’s electoral list for the 2026 parliamentary elections.
However, a check of the official list of candidates shows that this claim is false.
The attack on the student took place on the night of 27–28 January 2025, when students in Novi Sad were putting up stickers calling for a protest and a blockade of a bridge. A student at the Academy of Arts sustained serious injuries, including a triple fracture of her lower jaw.
The Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad filed an indictment proposal against four SNS activists. The proceedings ended after Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić pardoned them in July 2025.
The names of the four defendants — Nemanja Despotović, Nikola Blagojević, Danilo Rajičević and Stefan Kojović — became public shortly after the attack. SNS leader Miloš Vučević published their names, describing them as “heroes”. In May 2025, Aleksandar Vučić also published their names, accompanied by the message “Freedom for the heroes”.
However, a review of the official electoral list, “Aleksandar Vučić – United Serbia”, shows that none of the four defendants, who were subsequently pardoned, appears on the list approved by the Republic Electoral Commission for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October 2026.