On August 13, 2026, Rade Bajíc received a message from Apple: his iPhone was the target of a computer attack. This collaborator of the Serbian prosecutor's office had investigated the allegedly illegal decommissioning of a protected site in Belgrade to build a $500 million Trump hotel. According to the Guardian, which reported this story on Tuesday, he believes that his work on this case could explain this espionage attempt. Researchers from Citizen Lab, a laboratory at the University of Toronto who were able to examine his phone, remain more cautious: the alert constitutes a very reliable indicator of targeting by commercial spyware, but their analysis does not yet establish either the infection of the device, nor the tool used, nor the identity of the sponsor.
The real estate file concerns the Generalstab, the former headquarters of the Yugoslav army, located in the center of Belgrade. Damaged by NATO bombings in 1999, this ensemble benefited from heritage protection. Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump and incidentally son-in-law of the American president, wanted to develop a hotel there under the Trump brand, with the usual total: luxury apartments, offices and businesses.
In 2024, the Serbian government therefore signs a 99-year lease with the company linked to Kushner. To carry out the operation, however, the protection of the site must be lifted. It is this procedure that interests the justice system: it suspects those responsible for having used falsified documents to obtain the declassification. On December 15, 2025, the public prosecutor's office initiated proceedings against the Minister of Culture, Nikola Selakovíc, and three other officials for abuse of office and falsification of documents. All pleaded not guilty at the opening of their trial on February 4, 2026. Kushner withdrew from the project after the announcement of the proceedings. Its representatives and those of the Trump family assure that they had no part in the removal of property protection.
The announcement of the prosecution and Kushner's withdrawal angered Aleksandar Vucic, then president of Serbia and supporter of the project. He accuses prosecutors of fabricating the case and promises to hold accountable those he holds responsible for the loss of this investment. Bajíc, who claims to have been excluded from the investigation without explanation in November 2025, spoke publicly in February 2026, during a rally organized by students in front of the Constitutional Court: “The law will be the same for everyone.” A few months later, he received the alert from Apple. He remains convinced that he was targeted because of his work on the case.
His case joins several documented surveillance operations in Serbia. On October 19, Citizen Lab and the Serbian association SHARE confirmed that the iPhone of Vladan Dokic, rector of the University of Belgrade and supporter of the student movement, had been infected in 2026 by Pegasus, software developed by the Israeli company NSO which allows access to messages and discreetly activate microphone and camera. The infection of the rector's phone did not require any clicking on any link. In September, SHARE had already identified at least fourteen people targeted since January, including students and opponents. Serbian intelligence rejected these accusations, claiming to respect the law.
