Serbian prosecutor who investigated Belgrade Trump tower project ‘targeted with spyware’

A Serbian prosecutor, Rade Bajić, who was investigating alleged illegal schemes involving the Trump family's development plans in Belgrade, has reportedly been targeted by sophisticated spyware. This incident is framed within a larger context of perceived efforts by the authoritarian Serbian regime to undermine investigations into what critics term a "pay to play" scheme tied to the Trump administration. Citizen Lab analysts have identified indicators suggesting Bajić’s iPhone was targeted with mercenary spyware, such as Pegasus, after Apple flagged it for an attack.
The surveillance concerns arose following revelations from The Guardian that Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia's president, reportedly directed efforts to strip a key Belgrade site of legal protection to allow for a $500 million Trump hotel and tower development. This follows previous indictments against senior regime members regarding the misuse of power concerning similar protective statuses. While Vučić has defended his actions as fighting for his people, he vowed reprisals against prosecutors like Bajić after plans were reportedly called off following the public charges.
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Rade Bajić, a Serbian prosecutor from the specialised organised-crime unit, was targeted with advanced spyware while investigating authorities' alleged illegal scheme regarding a Trump tower in Belgrade.
The finding suggests a campaign by the authoritarian Serbian regime to undermine a criminal case related to the US president’s family business dealings.
Aleksandar Vučić ordered that a cherished site in Belgrade be stripped of legal protection for a $500m Trump hotel and tower, according to The Guardian's revelations.
Vučić hosted Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner during his ingratiation with the Trumps.
Prosecutors previously indicted senior members of Vučić’s regime for unlawfully stripping the General Staff building of its protected status.
Kushner halted the Trump Belgrade development after the charges became public.
Vučić vowed reprisals against prosecutors, including Bajić, following the indictments.
Bajić reported being taken off the case without explanation before the indictment was published.
In August, Bajić received an Apple message detecting a targeted mercenary attack on his iPhone.
Citizen Lab researchers identified this as a high confidence indicator of targeting with spyware like Pegasus.
The Guardian’s Pegasus Project documented government use of the spyware against various individuals.
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<p>The narrative strongly centers on an escalating contestation between judicial accountability and entrenched political power, illuminated by the highly personalized threat vector of advanced surveillance. The central dynamic involves a prosecutor investigating corporate influence in state assets clashing directly with the apparatus of the national leadership. This paints a familiar picture: investigations into elite corruption risk severe professional retaliation—in this case, digital intrusion designed to neutralize an inconvenient actor.</p>
<p>The unstated paradigm here is that in certain systems of governance, the power structure views independent judicial scrutiny not as a function of democratic oversight, but as a direct threat requiring clandestine neutralization. The fact that previous instances of government spyware targeting protesters exist lends weight to the hypothesis that this attack was an exercise in state/state-aligned enforcement rather than rogue hacking. Questions arise regarding the limits of legal immunity when political maneuvering—such as reallocating landmark national sites for massive international development—is suspected.</p>
<p>The implications are that informational security is now explicitly tied to physical and institutional freedom for investigative figures within this regime. Who profits from the sustained secrecy surrounding these real estate deals, and who bears the cost of having their legal investigations compromised? The reliance on "pay to play" accusations inherently demands a level of transparency currently absent. Does the threat of surveillance function as an effective muzzle against institutional corruption?</p>
<p>What alternative mechanisms exist for holding powerful national figures accountable when standard prosecutorial tracks are perceived or actualized as being vulnerable to executive interference? How might international monitoring bodies assess threats when evidence is intentionally cloaked in digital espionage rather than overt legal defiance?</p>
Patterns detected: none

Rade Bajić, a Serbian prosecutor from the specialised organised-crime unit, was targeted with advanced spyware while investigating authorities' alleged illegal scheme regarding a Trump tower in Belgrade.
The finding suggests a campaign by the authoritarian Serbian regime to undermine a criminal case related to the US president’s family business dealings.
Aleksandar Vučić ordered that a cherished site in Belgrade be stripped of legal protection for a $500m Trump hotel and tower, according to The Guardian's revelations.
Vučić hosted Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner during his ingratiation with the Trumps.
Prosecutors previously indicted senior members of Vučić’s regime for unlawfully stripping the General Staff building of its protected status.
Kushner halted the Trump Belgrade development after the charges became public.
Vučić vowed reprisals against prosecutors, including Bajić, following the indictments.
Bajić reported being taken off the case without explanation before the indictment was published.
In August, Bajić received an Apple message detecting a targeted mercenary attack on his iPhone.
Citizen Lab researchers identified this as a high confidence indicator of targeting with spyware like Pegasus.
The Guardian’s Pegasus Project documented government use of the spyware against various individuals.

<p>The narrative strongly centers on an escalating contestation between judicial accountability and entrenched political power, illuminated by the highly personalized threat vector of advanced surveillance. The central dynamic involves a prosecutor investigating corporate influence in state assets clashing directly with the apparatus of the national leadership. This paints a familiar picture: investigations into elite corruption risk severe professional retaliation—in this case, digital intrusion designed to neutralize an inconvenient actor.</p>
<p>The unstated paradigm here is that in certain systems of governance, the power structure views independent judicial scrutiny not as a function of democratic oversight, but as a direct threat requiring clandestine neutralization. The fact that previous instances of government spyware targeting protesters exist lends weight to the hypothesis that this attack was an exercise in state/state-aligned enforcement rather than rogue hacking. Questions arise regarding the limits of legal immunity when political maneuvering—such as reallocating landmark national sites for massive international development—is suspected.</p>
<p>The implications are that informational security is now explicitly tied to physical and institutional freedom for investigative figures within this regime. Who profits from the sustained secrecy surrounding these real estate deals, and who bears the cost of having their legal investigations compromised? The reliance on "pay to play" accusations inherently demands a level of transparency currently absent. Does the threat of surveillance function as an effective muzzle against institutional corruption?</p>
<p>What alternative mechanisms exist for holding powerful national figures accountable when standard prosecutorial tracks are perceived or actualized as being vulnerable to executive interference? How might international monitoring bodies assess threats when evidence is intentionally cloaked in digital espionage rather than overt legal defiance?</p>
Patterns detected: none