Troll of the year 2025: Dragan J. Vučićević 

The Balkan Troll of the Month is selected monthly based on incidents monitored and gathered across the six Western Balkan countries. In December, RDN combined votes from the Western Balkan countries with input from a public voting process to guide the selection of the Troll of the year.

In the first round, media monitors from all six countries in the region shortlisted the top six Trolls from the 12 monthly nominees. This was followed by two rounds of voting on RDN’s Instagram channel, where the social media followers helped select the Troll of the Year. On the first day, the audience chose the top three finalists, and on the second day, they made their selection for the Troll of the Year.

In September 2025, RDN’s Troll of the Month was Dragan J. Vučićević, the editor-in-chief of TV Informer in Serbia who publicly broadcast intimate photographs of student Nikolina Sinđelić, without her consent. 

Last year, Serbia was marked by mass protests which took place across the country following the tragic incident in Novi Sad when a canopy at the newly renovated train station collapsed, killing 16 people. 

As a result, students took to the streets to demand accountability, with demonstrators blaming corruption for the faulty construction. In reaction, supporters of the ruling SNS party, as well as the police, often acted violently towards citizens and journalists reporting on the ground. 

In one specific case, several people, including students, were taken to the garage of the main government building, tied up and placed on the ground where the police physically and verbally attacked them. Student Nikolina Sinđelić, was one of these students. She later came out to testify against the commander of the Unit for the Security of Certain Persons and Objects (JZO) Marko Kričak, stating he had taken her to the garage, threatened her with rape, slapped her and hit her head against a wall.

Following her statement, intimate photos of Nikolina were shared all over social media by several anonymous accounts, but also Dijana Hrkalović, former State Secretary, on her Instagram account. This was then picked up and aired by the editor-in-chief of TV Informer, Dragan J. Vučićević, who showed these intimate photos during a live programme and made nasty comments along with three other guests. By doing so, he violated the Criminal code alongside several media laws and the Code of Journalists. 

By humiliating and sharing intimate photos of Sinđelić, Vučićević and his media outlet spread gender-based violence and contributed to the dangerous overlap between the state, media and gender-based violence. 

Indeed, this is not an isolated incident as such. Under Vučićević’s leadership, Informer has repeatedly on numerous occasions, been found guilty by courts for publishing hate speech and defamatory content with Vučićević himself being fined and even imprisoned for spreading hateful narratives and disinformation. 

The media has a role to play in upholding the law, truth and justice. Rather than silencing critical voices, normalising and participating in violence against women and undermining justice, their role is to stand by citizens, expose where there are wrongdoings and demand accountability.