BIRN Journalists in Finals for Investigative Award

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Three BIRN stories have been named as finalists for this year’s Investigative award by Independent Journalistic Association of Serbia in the categories for electronic [TV and radio], print and on-line media.

 

The jury, composed of Danica Vucenic, journalist from Insajder, Milorad Ivanovic, editor-in-chief of Newsweek Serbia, Predrag Blagojevic, editor-in-chief of online portal Juzne vesti and Pedja Obradovic, producer at TV N1, chose the following BIRN stories:

Secret of Vucic’s tavern has been nominated for the print media category.

BIRN Serbia journalist Jelena Veljkovic wrote on how Serbia’s Property Directorate claimed not to know that an exclusive restaurant had been opened in a part of the Belgrade Cooperative building, which the directorate leased to the “Belgrade on water company, refusing to answer whether it believed this use of public property was in accordance with the law.

The article was published in the weekly Vreme.

Flatland without Birds?, a documentary about illegal hunting in Serbia is nominated for the electronic media category.

The film, by journalist Dragan Gmizic, co-produced by BIRN Serbia and Greenfield Productions, examines how hunting rare turtle doves and quail is organised in Serbia and asks how and whether it can be controlled. The documentary was aired on TV N1, TV CG and Al Jazeera Balkans.

A story by a group of journalists from BIRN and OCCRP, Making a Killing: The 1.2 Billion Euro Arms Pipeline to Middle East”, has been nominated for the online media category.

The story revealed how thousands of assault rifles, mortar shells, rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons, and heavy machine guns have poured into the Middle East from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. The same story is also among three finalists for the Czech Journalism Prize, the best-known Czech media award.

This year, 75 journalists applied for the award given by the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, NUNS, and the US embassy in Serbia.

The award ceremony will take place at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade on May 10 at 5.30pm.

BIRN journalists have won this prize for the last four years.