N1 (TV channel)

N1 is a 24-hour cable news channel launched on 30 October 2014. The channel has headquarters in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo and covers events happening in Central and Southeastern Europe. Available on cable TV throughout former Yugoslavia, N1 is CNN International's local broadcast partner and affiliate via an agreement with the London-based Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. As it is focused on the audiences of the three countries in which it is headquartered, it has three separate editorial policies, separate reporters, TV studios as well as internet and mobile platforms. In cases where news overlaps, it is presented jointly.

Serbia
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Pauline Adès-Mével, a representative of Reporters Without Borders, described N1 as “the only big independent television station in Serbia”. Workers have been constantly labeled as “traitors” and “foreign mercenaries” and received hundreds of insults and threats of physical violence through social media. Unidentified individuals sent a letter to the station on 4 February 2019 threatening to kill its journalists and their families and blow up its offices.

After Vučić was hospitalized with cardiovascular problems in November 2019, his associates and pro-regime media accused the N1 journalist Miodrag Sovilj of aggravating the President's health by probing allegations of corruption by government ministers. The Council of Europe's platform on journalist safety warns about a lack of state response to intimidation, threats and a smear campaign against Sovilj. The representative of Reporters Without Borders expressed concern about attacks faced by the Station’s executive director, as well as about the distribution of leaflets advising N1 to leave Serbia and threats made via social networks.

In January 2020, the European Federation of Journalists associated itself with the Independent Association of Serbia’s Journalists in supporting N1. It stated that it viewed the state-owned cable operator’s decision to drop N1 as an attempt to shut down critical discourse in Serbia. Parallel to the dispute between the United Group and cable operator, Harlem Désir, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and Reporters Without Borders both expressed concern over cyberattacks on N1’s Serbian web portal and mobile app.

Slovenia - Investigative journalism by N1
In 2023 and 2024, N1 informed about mismanagement and physical abuse allegations at the University Psychiatric Clinic Ljubljana (UPK Ljubljana). According to an official report, a commission of the Slovenian Ministry of Health that carried out an external supervision has proposed – among a range of other measures - to replace the management of UPK Ljubljana. The clinic denied the claims and has taken legal action. The clinic also responded to the report, but the final decision by the Ministry of Health has not yet been announced. [XX ] [XX]

On 13 May 2023, N1info reported extensive and irregular investigations conducted by the Slovenian Office for Money Laundering Prevention in December 2021. The investigations occurred amidst a politically charged atmosphere in Slovenia as the April 2022 elections approached. Evidence obtained suggested that the head of the office, Damjan Žugelj, appointed by the government led by SDS party, facing time constraints, received a short anonymous letter enabling him to initiate the largest bank accounts browsing in the history of Slovenija. As reported by web portal Necenzurirano, this investigation was launched presumably in the context of a pre-election agreement between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša to gather potentially damaging information on their opponents through the respective anti-money laundering offices.[16][17] Janša has denied the alleged pre-elections agreement with Vučić, while Žugelj never denied that the Office, under his leadership, initiated bank accounts browsing solely on the basis of short anonymous letters which did not contain any evidence.[18]

On 13 October 2023 National Bureau of Investigation (NPU) filed criminal charges against Damjan Žugelj, former director of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention, and his closest associates on suspicion of abuse of office. NPU said that they are being prosecuted for unlawfully looking into 224 bank accounts in Slovenija, allegedly also including Dragan Šolak, the founder and co-owner of United Group and United Media, that owns N1.

There were several other cases of bank accounts browsings based only on short anonymous letters  during Žugelj's time, including the Office's investigation of the bank accounts of the wife of the Parliament President who an opposition member. Žugelj’s Office was browsing bank accounts of the Parliament President's wife at the very time when the then Janša coalition was unsuccessfully trying to remove him from his position. ( https://n1info.si/novice/slovenija/brskali-tudi-po-racunih-zene-pomembnega-politika-to-je-svinjarija-prve-vrste ) [19]

In April 2023, N1’s investigation exposed a disturbing situation involving seamstresses from Goričko in north-east of Slovenija. These women suffered rights violations at the hands of Moda Mi&Lan over several years. Despite labor inspectors conducting 33 inspections over an 11-year period, confirming 42 violations, and imposing fines, no significant action was taken. The inspectorate decided to file criminal charges against those responsible within the company.[XX][XX]N1’s original was published on 22. April 2023. [XX]

On September 24, 2022, N1 wrote about an industrial accident in Slovenia where seven people died in a Melamin chemical plant explosion in Kočevje. Employee and union president, Nikola Sandič, had warned about safety issues for years. Safety deficiencies included improper handling of hazardous substances, questionable safety protocols, and insufficient logging due to Covid-19 staff shortages. The management blamed human error without proof, while police reported the responsible persons for not following safety regulations, leading to worker deaths.[XX][XX][XX][XX]