Novak Djokovic, Serbia\u2019s most celebrated athlete, is facing a smear campaign allegedly orchestrated by government officials.<\/p>\n
Serbian state-aligned media have branded Novak Djokovic a \u201cnational disgrace,\u201d tying the claim to speculation he plans to relocate to Greece.<\/p>\n
Reports suggest the move intensified after Djokovic voiced support for anti-government protesters and condemned violence in Serbia.<\/p>\n
Coverage of the tennis star has escalated in recent months, with journalist Jaschar Dugalic writing in Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung, the government is actively targeting him.<\/p>\n
According to Dugalic, regime-friendly outlets are being used to undermine Djokovic\u2019s reputation, despite the fact he has never openly criticised the government.<\/p>\n
The attacks on Djokovic come during a wave of anti-government protests in Serbia demanding accountability and democratic reforms.<\/p>\n
These demonstrations began after the collapse of Novi Sad\u2019s railway station canopy which killed 16 people, sparking outrage over corruption.<\/p>\n
What started as student-led vigils grew into a nationwide movement with blockades, campus occupations and mass marches.<\/p>\n
Protesters called for reconstruction documents to be made public, the dismissal of implicated officials and criminal charges for abuses.<\/p>\n
Clashes have broken out in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Valjevo, with protesters setting fire to offices and police responding with tear gas.<\/p>\n
President Aleksandar Vucic has branded the demonstrators \u201cterrorists\u201d and blamed foreign interference for the unrest.<\/p>\n
International organisations, including the Council of Europe, have condemned the government\u2019s heavy-handed response and called for dialogue.<\/p>\n
Djokovic\u2019s high profile has made him a target, with critics suggesting the smear campaign is a political distraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic, Serbia\u2019s most celebrated athlete, is facing a smear campaign allegedly orchestrated by government officials. Serbian state-aligned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,3592,62367,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-89493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-novak-djokovic","11":"tag-serbia","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}