Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has faced nine months of mass protests against corruption and authoritarianism, with demonstrators facing off at times against riot police and violent pro-government thugs, the OCCRP writes in an analysis (full text here).

But most Serbian media coverage has reflected the government narrative, depicting student and other protestors, as well as journalists, as “terrorists” conspiring to destabilize the country.

One media group has gone against the grain. United Media, the media arm of United Group, a Dutch telecommunications and media conglomerate, operates several outlets in Serbia, including its most influential station, N1. The channel has livestreamed protests, investigated corruption, and provided a platform for opposition voices.

Rumors that the government was seeking to neutralize N1, as well as five other United Media outlets in Serbia, have circulated among journalists, opposition figures and the wider public for some time. But new evidence obtained by OCCRP provides the clearest indication yet that Vučić’s allies have sought in recent months to muzzle the broadcaster.

According to a source familiar with internal discussions, as well as photographs and leaked internal correspondence reviewed by OCCRP, the new CEO of United Group, Stan Miller, flew to Belgrade earlier this month to meet with Vladimir Lučić, the CEO of state-owned Telekom Srbija and a close ally of Vučić. The two men followed up a week later with a conversation about Miller’s plans for United Group’s Serbian operations — including a promise from him to fire Aleksandra Subotić, the chief executive of United Media, who for years had ensured that it maintained its independence despite sustained political and market pressures.

Miller was appointed CEO of United Group in June by its majority owner, British private equity firm BC Partners.

He told Lučić he was aware the Serbian president was unhappy that Subotić had not yet been fired as promised, but said he needed more time to remove her because other changes were necessary first, according to the source familiar with the content of the conversation.

OCCRP has not seen evidence that Vučić had instructed Lučić or anyone else to impose changes at N1. However, comments he made in February this year in an interview with pro-government Pink TV suggest that he knew a shakeup was coming. Vučić told the channel that some staff members at N1 would be dismissed in November.

A spokesperson for the Serbian president, in a brief response to OCCRP questions, said that Vučić “did not interfere in the editorial policy of the media, nor was [he] interested in it.”

In written answers to OCCRP, Telekom Srbija CEO Lučić denied discussing the removal of Subotic with Miller.

“We do not involve ourselves in staffing decisions at other companies”, Lučić said, adding that his conversations with the United Group CEO were about “technical and compliance-related issues […] Nothing related to personnel changes was raised.”

He described his relation to the Serbian president as “Strictly professional and institutional, consistent with operating a major national infrastructure provider.”

Miller did not respond to questions from OCCRP. A United Group spokesperson, however, said: “United Group denies that it is working with any party whatsoever on a campaign to ‘cripple’ or interfere with the editorial independence of the broadcaster behind N1 television.”

Asked for comment on reporters’ findings, Subotić, who has led United Media for nearly 15 years, said it was “unacceptable that a manager appointed by the investment fund BC Partners is discussing her dismissal with the CEO of a competing company, especially Telekom Srbija.“

She argued that such talks showed the government’s intention to undermine media freedom in Serbia. Subotić emphasized that she would not allow political or economic pressures to influence the editorial policy of the outlets under her leadership.

A spokesperson for BC Partners, United Group’s majority owner, said: „It has never been, and will never be, unduly influenced by political pressure in any country in which it invests or operates. The company acts in the best interests of the company and its investors. … United Media has always and will continue to guarantee the independence of its editorial and news staff. This has already been confirmed by the company publicly on numerous occasions.”