Category: News and Events

UK Govt Declines Comment on Arms Shipments Reported by BIRN

The British Government declined to comment on whether it will prosecute the brokers responsible for shipping ammunition from Bosnia to Saudi Arabia, as revealed in an article published by BIRN last year.

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The government said it “cannot comment on individuals or companies that have previously been, or are currently being investigated”.

“HM Revenue and Customs, on behalf of the Government, investigates all credible allegations of strategic export control offences, which can proceed to a full criminal investigation. HMRC investigators will recommend prosecution when and where there is clear evidence of a serious criminal offence,” the government wrote in an answer to a question raised by the Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle.

In his question, Russell-Moyle cited BIRN’s last year’s article, according to which the UK failed to warn Sarajevo that almost 30 million Bosnian-made bullets sold to Saudi Arabia would end up in the wrong hands.

The deal was brought to the UK’s attention because two British-based brokers had requested – and were eventually refused – licences to mediate in the Bosnia-Saudi deal.

Though Bosnian officials said they had no record of a broker being involved in the export, a BIRN investigation has established the shipment that left Bosnia in two parts in November 2015 and January 2016, with the approval of Sarajevo, matched the deal for which the UK refused brokering licences in terms of timing, quantity, origin, destination and type of ammunition.

Following BIRN’s investigation into the deal, the British parliament’s committee on arms export controls requested internal correspondence related to the shipment of ammunition from Bosnia to Saudi Arabia.

The committee said it would write a formal letter outlining the information it needs as part of an inquiry into UK arms licences issued in 2016.

BIRN Albania Opens Call for Investigations on Housing and Property Rights

BIRN Albania launched a call for investigative stories on property rights and housing on February 18th.

BIRN is offering grants for three journalists to cover property rights and housing stories, as well as mentoring by experienced editors.

The call is held as part of the project ‘Exposing Corruption through Investigative Reporting’, financed by the National Endowment for Democracy.

The project’s aim is to strengthen journalistic reporting on corruption in the country through cooperation with civil society, in order to contribute to a more informed citizenry that is engaged in the democratic process.

Three journalists will be awarded grants to cover their expenses while conducting investigations and writing their stories on housing and property rights.

The journalists will have around three months to dig deeper and research their ideas, and will also have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as mentors to guide them through the process of writing in accordance with BIRN standards.

The call only applies to journalists from Albania and closes on March 10th.

Click here for more information (in Albanian) about the application procedure.

Click here to download the application (in Albanian).

BIRN Albania Holds Discussion on Property Rights and Housing

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Albania held a roundtable discussion for civil society activists and journalists on the topic of property rights and housing.

Around 20 journalists, experts and civil society representatives gathered in Tirana on February 13 to discuss strategies that investigative reporters can use in order to better report on property rights problems and housing.

The event was held as part of the project ‘Exposing Corruption Through Investigative Reporting’, financed by the National Endowment for Democracy.  The project’s aim is to strengthen journalistic reporting on corruption in the country through cooperation with civil society, in order to contribute to a more informed citizenry that is engaged in the democratic process.

The roundtable was moderated by Gentian Serani, an activist from the Youth Movement for Roma and Egyptian Rights, and BIRN Albania editor Besar Likmeta.

During the roundtable, the participants suggested a series of key topics to be investigated, including problems with the management of public properties, discrimination against minorities in the rental market, as well as gender discrimination in property inheritance. Problems with property legalisation and the registration process, as well as the award of building permits, were also highlighted.

The goal of the roundtable was to draw attention to an upcoming call for investigative reporting grants on the topic of property rights and housing, which will be launched in the coming week by BIRN Albania.

Three journalists will be selected by an independent jury and will be mentored by BIRN editors for a period of three months to produce hard-hitting investigative reports on the topic.

BIRN Kosovo’s ‘Friday Forums’ Attract Diplomats and Politicians

BIRN Kosovo’s Friday Forums, organised each month since 2015, are events to which public officials and diplomats are invited to have an open, off-the-record conversations with all BIRN’s staff based in municipalities across Kosovo.

Past attendees have included senior officials from Kosovo and international diplomats.

“The point of these briefings is that our staff gets to pose better informed questions when they are covering a topic, and by meeting a lot of officials and diplomats in an off-the-record setting, they will know more about the topic, than from what they are likely to get from formal declarations,” said BIRN Kosovo’s director, Jeta Xharra.

Friday Forums are organised under Chatham House rules – the format used by Britain’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, with the aim of encouraging openness of discussion and facilitating the sharing of information. The format is now used throughout the world as an aid to free discussion of sensitive issues.

On February 1, Rozafa Ukimeraj, secretary of the Ministry of Local Governance, was BIRN Kosovo’s guest, along with Per Strand Sjaastad, the Norwegian ambassador to Kosovo.

Before that, at the end of October 2018, Rashit Qalaj, the director of the Kosovo Police, took part in a fruitful discussion with journalists just a few months after taking office.

On those Fridays when there are no guests, BIRN staff discuss relevant issues.

Friday Forums have in the past hosted: Natalya Apostolova and Samuel Zbogar, heads of the EU office in Kosovo; Christian Heldt and Angelica Viets, German ambassadors to Kosovo; Tracey Jacobson and Greg Delawie, US ambassadors to Kosovo, and Ruairi O’Connell, the UK Ambassador.

They have also hosted: Valdet Gashi, former Kosovo liaison officer to Serbia; Besim Kelmendi, former special prosecutor; Piero Cristoforo Sardi, the Italian Ambassador to Kosovo; Zoran Vodopija and Marija Kapitanovic, Croatian ambassadors to Kosovo; former President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga; head of Kosovo delegation, Avni Arifi, and the current President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, among others.

BIRN Kosovo Publishes Municipal Procurement Report

BIRN Kosovo, with the support of USAID, published a report on Thursday about procurement procedures in Kosovo’s municipalities from October 2017 to October 2018.

The publication analyses procurement procedures involving key actors from Kosovo institutions including government officials, Kosovo Assembly members and non-governmental organisations.

BIRN discovered that only a limited number of complaints about procurements were resolved in favour of businesses that appealed, with most decisions going in favour of the municipalities. Municipalities did not change their decisions despite demands from businesses to review their decisions, the report found.

Of a total of 272 demands for review, only 15 per cent of the complaints were decided in favour of economic operators – 41 in total – while 85 per cent, or 231 of the reviewed complaints, were decided in favour of the contracting authorities.

Kreshnik Gashi, the managing editor of BIRN Kosovo, said that BIRN has been working for several years to identify problems with public procurement procedures.

“We have monitored what we call the ‘holes in procurement’ which steal from the state’s budget. We have identified many of them and fortunately many of these gaps have been filled,” Gashi said.

The proper functioning of electronic procurement implementation and the publication of related contracts were among the positive developments recorded in 2018, which have helped to increase transparency in institutional procurement procedures.

Christina Davies, the director of USAID for Democracy and Governance, said that Kosovo has tried to improve the situation, but challenges remain.

“Kosovo has made efforts to increase transparency. However, corruption remains an obstacle for the future,” Davies said.

With the new report, BIRN Kosovo concluded its project on procurement and violations in procurement which was supported by USAID.

Applications Open for 2019 Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence

Do you know of a brilliant story that is begging to be reported? Do you want to take your skills as a journalist to another level, receiving close editorial support and a generous allowance to research a subject in depth?

If the answer to either of those questions is yes, you should consider applying for the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. The Application Form and Guidelines are on the BFJE website.

Each year, 10 journalists are chosen through open competition to receive funding and professional support to conduct in-depth research and write journalistic stories that reveal something new about our world – or that reveal the familiar in a new light.

The theme for this year’s fellowship is FREEDOM. We are open to applications from journalists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Greece and Serbia. Please make sure you send us your application, including your proposal for a story based on this year’s theme, by March 6.

Applicants selected by an independent committee to take part in the fellowship will receive a €2,000 bursary and up to another €2,000 for travel and research expenses. They will also attend international seminars and receive continuous one-to-one mentoring for their stories.

Stories from the programme will be published by BIRN and by prominent regional and international media outlets. The top three stories, as selected by an independent jury, will also receive cash awards.

The Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence was launched in 2007 to promote high-quality, cross-border reporting. The programme provides fellows with financial and editorial support, enabling them to travel, report and write their stories and develop their journalistic skills.

Aimed at promoting the development of a robust and responsible press, the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence has evolved into a signature programme that has helped shape journalistic standards across the Balkans while boosting the careers of participating reporters.

BIRN Albania Documentary to be Screened at European Parliament

BIRN Albania’s documentary ‘Free Flow’, about resistance to hydropower plant developers, will be screened on March 7 at the European Parliament in Brussels during a conference entitled ‘Save the Balkan Rivers: Resisting Hydroelectric Power Plants (HPPs) in the Balkans and Albania’.

The conference is being organised by the parliamentary group European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) to highlight the threat posed to biodiversity in the Balkans by thousands of planned hydropower plant projects.

“Many of them are located in protected and environmentally sensitive areas and national parks,” said the GUE/NGL parliamentary group in a statement.

“For more than a decade citizens, activists and civil society from the Balkans have waged a struggle against HPPs, which pose a threat to the environment, sustainable development and ultimately to their way of life,” it added.

Directed by film-maker Elton Baxhaku, the documentary ‘Free Flow’ follows Albania villagers, activists, scientists and artists as they try to draw attention – in court and on the streets – to the threat posed to the environment and the local ecotourism industry by power plant projects.

Baxhaku and BIRN Albania editor Besar Likmeta will be speakers at the conference, which will feature remarks from MEPs and civil society activists from across the region and beyond, including representatives of Civil Rights Defenders, Bankwatch, Riverwatch, WWF Adria, Euronatur, Mileukontakt and others.

Among the members of the parliament at the conference will be Stelios Kouloglou, GUE/NGL, a member of the EU-Albania SA Parliamentary Committee and Ivan Jakovcic, ALDE, the vice-chair of the EU-Albania SA Parliamentary Committee.

Justice Report Ukraine – Grants for Journalists

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, in cooperation with Hromadske, is launching a call for in-depth investigative stories on transitional justice themes in Ukraine.

On fifth anniversary since the start of Ukrainian conflict, we are offering grants to six journalists to cover topics related to conflict, truth, justice, accountability, memory, institutional reform – and other issues related to the transitional justice. The selected journalists will receive mentoring from experienced editors.

We are welcoming proposals that could explore following themes:

  • Missing persons
  • Mass graves and right to truth
  • Conflicting memories and revisionism
  • Victims’ rights
  • Criminal justice efforts
  • International justice efforts
  • Reparations
  • Refugees, IDPs and right to return
  • Life in divided communities

The call is a part of BIRN’s Transitional Justice Initiative. The aim of this project is to strengthen in-depth reporting on transitional justice, in order to contribute to a more informed citizenry that is engaged in the democratic process.

Six journalists will be awarded €1,000 grants to cover their expenses while conducting investigations and writing their stories on transitional justice issues.

The journalists will have around three months to dig deeper and research their ideas. They will also have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as mentors, to guide them through the process of writing in accordance with BIRN standards.

After the selection of the six grantees, BIRN and Hromadske will organise a three-day training for them in Kiev at the beginning of March 2019. They will have their first editorial meetings during that training. Additional five journalists from Hromadske will receive support to report on these topics.

The call applies to journalists from Ukraine. All further information regarding application process can be found in our application guidelines. To apply, send the following documents to [email protected] with the subject “BIRN’s Transitional Justice Initiative grant application” by February 10:

  • Resumé (CV)
  • Letter of motivation
  • Completed application form
  • Link to or copy of example of published work
  • Any other relevant documents 

Applications received after February 15 [deadline extended] will not be considered.

Albania Rights Groups Condemn ‘Undemocratic’ Media Bills

Edi Rama is being urged to withdraw two media bills that rights groups say pose a serious threat to freedom of the media and democracy in the country.

A number of organizations in Albania dedicated to the protection of human rights, media freedom, freedom of information and journalists associations called on Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday to withdraw two proposed bills that would empower the government to regulate online media outlets, under the threat of penalties and closure.

“We inform the public that the two proposals endanger freedom of expression and could turn Albania in a undemocratic country and at the same time are not helpful in tackling the existing problems of the media, including hate speech, defamation, propaganda or disinformation,” the organizations stated at a press conference.

The two draft laws aim to create a registry of online publications and empower a new “Complaints Council” to sanction online media, based on third-party requests, ordering their closure or blocking access to such media in Albania.

The draft laws provide legal mechanisms for the Audiovisual Media Authority AMA and Tax Authority to fine or even close online media outlets, blogs and other publications on the Internet without clear procedures. Rights groups say this poses a threat to seriously increase the level of censorship and self-censorship already present in Albania’s media.

“If the ruling Socialist parliamentary majority enacts these proposals, our hybrid democracy will inevitably slither toward an authoritarian regime. In democratic countries, the aim of the law is to protect citizens from the government and not to protect government from the citizens,” the organizations noted.

The joint statement was backed by BIRN Albania, the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania, the League of Albanian Journalists, AIS/Open Data Albania, Civil Rights Defenders, the Albania Media Council and the MediaLook Center.

Albania’s media is considered only partly free by Freedom House’s media freedom index. The media climate has also deteriorated over the last decade, experts say.

The television market is concentrated in a few hands and political coverage is largely limited to publishing material pre-packaged by parties’ PR offices that have developed into fully fledged TV studios with their own journalists and camera crews.

BIRN Urges Russian Leader To Release Journalists

As Vladimir Putin visits Belgrade, BIRN journalists have used the occasion to call on the Kremlin leader to release imprisoned journalists in Russia and respect human rights.

BIRN journalists in Serbia on Thursday held up banners asking Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had arrived in Belgrade, to release imprisoned journalists in Russia and to respect human rights.

“Free journalists,” said a banner in Serbian, Russian and English held from the windows of the BIRN office, close to where supporters of Putin in Serbia were gathering for a rally.

The BIRN office also displayed an LGBT flag, calling on Putin to respect human and LGBT rights in his country.

Pro-Russian NGOs with the support of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party on Thursday organized a mass gathering in support of the Russian President who was meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the city.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 58 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992. The Committee also said it knew of four journalists imprisoned in Russia at this moment.

Rights groups also criticize Russia over its treatment of LGBT people, who face routine pressure, intimidation and violence.

In its latest report, the rights watchdog Human Rights Watch, HRW, noted that a law against so-called gay propaganda was having a negative impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and on the young also.

“The 2013 law exacerbated the hostility LGBT people in Russia have long suffered, and also stifled access to LGBT-inclusive education and support services, with harmful consequences for children,” HRW said in December.

The Russian President is meeting his Serbian counterpart to sign a series of agreements and memorandums, highlighting the warmth between the two Slavic countries.

Serbia and Russia are close diplomatic allies. Russia has strongly supported Belgrade in rejecting Kosovo’s independence, while Belgrade has refused to criticise or sanction Russia for its actions in Ukraine and the unilateral annexation of Crimea.

Originally published on Balkan Insight.