“THE REGIME SPENT MILLIONS TO SPY ON US”: Students reveal how their phones were monitored using the notorious “Pegasus” spyware! (VIDEO)

The first official press conference of the student movement was held in Belgrade today, where students from all universities in Serbia presented the public with information about the secret tapping and spying on their phones.

Ela Zeković, a student at the Faculty of Political Sciences, said that 14 students, members of the movement’s operational teams, had been targeted by advanced spyware and that it all began when Apple sent a notification to users stating that, according to the company, they had been targeted in an attack.

“Our colleagues were spied on using unauthorized software. They were not simply monitored at a protest… Their phones were attacked with software that is sold only to governments. In mid-August, Apple sent a warning to a group of iPhone users that they had been targeted by spyware. Those people contacted the SHARE Foundation. Today we know that 14 participants in the movement were targeted. They are students, activists, IT members of the blockade movement, as well as a member of parliament and an opposition municipal councilor,” the student said at the press conference.

She said that these claims had also been confirmed by technology laboratories around the world.

“Pegasus was found on the phone of one of our colleagues. It was installed remotely, without a single click or the user’s knowledge. This was confirmed by laboratories around the world. Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and Amnesty International. Colleagues who are members of the operational teams were targeted,” she added.

She also said that the Pegasus system can independently activate a microphone and camera and that its use constitutes a criminal offense, as well as claiming that something like this had been done during “ten local elections and one can only imagine what it could do for the elections ahead.”

Student from Niš: The spyware attack gave them access to my entire life, private conversations…

Milica, a student from Niš, says that those who installed spyware on her phone had access to her entire life, not just her activities within the student movement, and that this was an attack on everyone whose contacts she has stored on her phone.

“I received a notification on my phone in mid-August. At first I thought it was a generic notification or some advertisement. Only when I looked more carefully did I realize that it said a spyware attack on my phone had been attempted, and I forwarded it to a colleague who works in IT in Niš. We got in touch with colleagues from Belgrade and realized that I was not the only one who had received the notification,” Milica explained.

In Milica’s case, it was said that it has not yet been fully established what happened and how, and that the process is still ongoing.

She added that the software gave access to all of her private conversations.

“It only became serious for me when I came to Belgrade to have my phone examined. I realized that through that attack they had access to my entire life, not just student meetings, but also private conversations… The microphone and camera. They could turn on the camera while we were showering, while we were talking about private matters. What is happening is not normal,” she stressed.

“This is not an attack only on students, but on all the contacts I have on my phone,” she stressed.

Ognjen Rašić, a student at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, said that he had also received a notification from Apple stating that his phone had been the target of an attempted spyware attack.

According to him, among those who received similar warnings were members of the student movement and activists who had been involved in local elections, which is why he believes that “the regime is afraid of young people ready to fight for justice.”

“We were involved in the elections in a supportive capacity so that we could do our best to ensure that they were conducted in accordance with the law, as properly as possible. This very likely bothered the ruling party, so they were prepared to spend millions in order to install spyware on our devices,” Rašić said.

Student: I am the first Pegasus victim in 2026, the privacy and security of everyone I communicated with was compromised

Student Jelena Kontić said at the conference of students in blockade, where it was stated that Jelena was one of the victims of surveillance and that Pegasus had been installed on her phone without her knowledge, that it feels as though “your phone is in their hands.”

At the beginning of her address, Kontić reminded everyone of the film “Balkan Spy” and added that they were now talking about a “real situation that is not from a movie.”

“I am the first victim of Pegasus in 2026. I am very active in the Student in Every Village working unit, the field campaign of the Student Movement. What this work involves is communicating with many citizens and students, which is probably why I was targeted, as were all citizens seeking justice. The thing is, I have never been arrested or detained, which raises the question of why me? How is it possible that what I do led to someone monitoring or tapping me?” she asked.

Student Kontić said that the Student in Every Village unit travels throughout Serbia, visiting every place and speaking with people about their problems and dissatisfaction with the current regime and system.

“Everything we do is fairly transparent. The notification I received made me the angriest. Why? Because it did not violate only my privacy and security, but also the privacy and security of everyone I communicated with at the time — citizens, students, colleagues and my family. In doing so, they also became victims of someone’s surveillance,” she added.

“Whenever it wants, at any moment, Pegasus can turn on the camera, microphone, see where you are, access your messages, documents, applications… Literally everything you have on your phone. It feels as though your phone is in their hands at that moment. If the price of fighting for justice is that our citizens and all of us together have to pay by having our phones tapped, then this fight does not concern only students, but all citizens as well. This regime is afraid of its citizens, and that should not be allowed in a country where democracy is supposed to rule,” student Kontić said.

SHARE Foundation: The period of spyware targeting coincides with the period of the local election campaign

Andrijana, a representative of the SHARE Foundation, said during the press conference organized by the student movement that the organization had determined that at least 14 people had been targeted by advanced forms of spyware at the beginning of 2026.

“We can say that in the majority of cases, the targets were members of the student movement, activists and local councilors from opposition parties. According to the available information, the period of targeting coincides with the period when the campaign for the local elections in March 2026 was being held,” she said.

Explaining why such software is dangerous, she said that it enables access to almost all data on a device.

“It has access to all data on the device — photographs, contacts and other files. It can also activate the camera and microphone, as well as take screenshots. What we can further say is that the data is sent to the party that commissioned the attack, depending on which software was used,” Andrijana said.

She stressed that two forensic laboratories had confirmed the SHARE Foundation’s findings.

Andrijana of the SHARE Foundation said that users who received such notifications had been targeted in spyware attacks. Citizen Lab, she added, confirmed that the device of one person, a member of the student movement, had been infected with Pegasus.