Tag: Kosovo

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN Kosovo and Associacion of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK invite all interested journalists to apply to the 6 months fellowship, provided by the European Union in Kosovo.

10 ambitious and daring journalists will be selected by a team of local and regional professionals to become part of this dynamic and enriching experience. Each fellow will be granted a 2,000 euro fellowship bursary for an in-depth research story covering issues such as public spending, local governance, public procurement, environment, energy, healthcare, culture, education, media financing, human rights, inter-ethnic cooperation, etc.

In addition, the selected journalists will receive mentorship by a team of highly-skilled BIRN Kosovo editors, who have extensive experience in producing and editing high quality reporting in Kosovo and the region; recognized for their excellence by several organizations and awarded for unbiased and professional reporting by the main media bodies in Kosovo.

At the end of the programme, fellows are expected to have produced an original research/investigative story. The format may vary from written articles, to TV reportages or content presented in a multimedia format. Stories of the selected fellows will be published in Albanian, Serbian and English. BIRN will ensure republication of fellowship articles in other local media in order to increase the outreach of the stories produced.

Are you interested in becoming part of this prestigious program?

Fill in the Application Form and submit your application by midnight on 24 August 2018, to [email protected].

Any questions regarding this programme or the application can be addressed to [email protected], by 17 August 2018 at the latest.

The proposals can be submitted in either Albanian, Serbian or English, the three working languages to be used during the fellowship.

Women and members of non-majority communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

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U lansua programi i Bursës së Kosovës për Ekselencë në Gazetari

Procesi i aplikimit për Programin e Bursës së Kosovës për Ekselencë në Gazetari’ për vitin 2018 tani është hapur. Programi do të fillojë në shtator 2018 dhe është i bazuar sipas Bursës Ballkanike për Ekselencë në Gazetari, që ka filluar qysh në vitin 2007.

Rrjeti Ballkanik i Gazetarise Hulumtuese – BIRN Kosova dhe Asociacioni i Gazetarëve të Kosovës – AGK ftojnë të gjithë gazetarët e interesuar që të aplikojnë për këtë bursë 6-mujore, të ofruar nga Bashkimi Europian në Kosovë.

10 gazetarë ambiciozë dhe të guximshëm do të zgjidhen nga një ekip profesionistësh lokalë dhe rajonalë për t’u bërë pjesë e kësaj përvoje dinamike dhe të pasur. Secili anëtar do të përfitojë bursë prej 2,000 euro për një storie të thellë hulumtuese që mbulon çështjet si shpenzimet publike, qeverisja lokale, prokurimi publik, mjedisi, energjia, shëndetësia, kultura, arsimi, financimi i mediave, të drejtat e njeriut, bashkëpunimi ndëretnik etj.

Përveç kësaj, gazetarët e përzgjedhur do të përfitojnë mentorim nga një ekip redaktorësh të kualifikuar të BIRN Kosova, të cilët kanë përvojë të gjerë në prodhimin dhe redaktimin e raportimit të cilësisë së lartë në Kosovë dhe në rajon, si dhe janë vlerësuar për ekselencën e tyre nga disa organizata dhe kanë fituar çmime për raportim të paanshëm dhe profesional nga organet kryesore të mediave në Kosovë.

Në fund të programit, bursistët priten të kenë prodhuar një storie origjinale hulumtuese/kërkimore. Formati mund të ndryshojë, nga storie të shkruara, në reportazhe televizive ose përmbajtje të paraqitura në format multimedial. Storiet e bursistëve të përzgjedhur do të publikohen në shqip, anglisht dhe serbisht. BIRN do të sigurojë ripublikimin e storieve të bursistëve në mediat e tjera lokale në mënyrë që të rrisë shtrirjen e storieve të prodhuara.

A jeni të interesuar të jeni pjesë e këtij programi prestigjioz?

Plotësoni formularin e aplikimit dhe dorëzoni aplikacionin tuaj deri në mesnatë më 24 gusht 2018, tek [email protected] .

Çdo pyetje në lidhje me këtë program ose aplikacion mund të drejtohet tek [email protected], më së voni deri më 17 gusht 2018.

Propozimet mund të dorëzohen në shqip, anglisht ose serbisht, që janë tri gjuhët e punës të cilat do të përdoren gjatë kohëzgjatjes së programit.

Gratë dhe pjesëtarët e komuniteteve pakicë inkurajohen fuqishëm që të aplikojnë.

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DANAS JE LANSIRAN PROGRAM STIPENDIJA ZA NOVINARSKU IZUZETNOST NA KOSOVU

Proces podnošenja prijave za program Stipendija za novinarsku izuzetnost na Kosovu za 2018 je ovim otvoren. Program će početi u septembru 2018. i zasnovan je na Balkanskoj stipendiji za novinarsku izuzetnost, koja se sprovodi od 2007.

Balkanska Istraživačka Regionalna Mreža (BIRN) i Udruženje Novinara Kosova (AGK), pozivaju sve zainteresovane novinare da se prijave za šestomesečnu stipendiju, koju obezbeđuje Evropska unija na Kosovu.

10 ambicioznih i smelih novinara će izabrati tim lokalnih i regionalnih profesionalaca kako bi postali deo ovog dinamičnog i obogaćujućeg iskustva. Svaki stipendista će dobiti stipendiju od 2.000 evra za detaljnu istraživačku priču koja pokriva pitanja kao što su javna potrošnja, lokalna uprava, javne nabavke, životna sredina, energetika, zdravstvena zaštita, kultura, obrazovanje, finansiranje medija, ljudska prava, međuetnička saradnja itd.

Osim toga, odabrani novinari će dobiti mentorstvo tima visokokvalifikovanih urednika BIRN Kosovo, koji imaju veliko iskustvo u produkciji i uređivanju visokokvalitetnog izveštavanja na Kosovu i regionu; priznatih po njihovoj izvrsnosti od nekoliko organizacija i nagrađivanih za nepristrasno i profesionalno izveštavanje od strane glavnih medijskih tela na Kosovu.

Na kraju programa, očekuje se da stipendiste naprave originalnu ispitivačku/istraživačku priču. Format se može razlikovati od pisanih članaka do TV reportaža ili sadržaja prikazanog u multimedijalnom formatu. Priče izabranih stipendista biće objavljene na albanskom, engleskom i srpskom jeziku. BIRN će obezbediti ponovno objavljivanje članaka stipendista u drugim lokalnim medijima kako bi se povećalo pokriće izrađenih priča.

Da li ste zainteresovani da postanete deo ovog prestižnog programa?

Popunite obrazac prijave i pošaljite vašu prijavu do ponoći 24. avgusta 2018, na [email protected].

Sva pitanja u vezi ovog programa ili prijave mogu se poslati na [email protected], najkasnije do 17. avgusta.

Predlozi mogu biti podneti na albanskom, srpskom ili engleskom jeziku, a ova tri radna jezika će biti korišćena tokom stipendije.

Žene i pripadnici nevećinskih zajednica se snažno ohrabruju da se prijave.

Out of 41 applicants, including institutions, organizations and individuals, 16 were selected as beneficiaries of BIRN’s Medium and Small Grant Scheme, which is funded by the European Union.

Through the project, “Support to Civil Society and Media Initiatives”, BIRN and its partners aim to assist individuals and organizations in the media sector in their efforts to improve transparency, independence and accountability in Kosovo within the sector itself and in Kosovo broadly.

This grant scheme is designed to “Contribute to strengthening independent, investigative and publicly beneficial journalism and freedom of expression in Kosovo,” and will provide 14 applicants with small grants of 5,000 euros or less, and two applicants with medium grants, which range from 20,000 to 30,000 euros.

The total amount spent on the grant scheme is 121,267 euros.

The grantees were selected by a professional jury, which met for the first time on June 18 to evaluate the 41 applicants. Their decision was based upon the relevance of the proposed actions and activities, creativity, quality of the financial offer, the project team’s potential and previous experience of the applicant.

The jury met again on June 21 to discuss a shortlist of applicants and compiled the final list of beneficiaries after reviewing the first evaluation. The objective for the selected applicants will be to contribute to the strengthening and development of investigative journalism and freedom of expression, increasing the skills of media professionals in monitoring, fact-checking and accountability across Kosovo for the public benefit. The selected proposals provide a variety of activities including capacity building, investigative reporting, production of documentaries, usage of public documents and address issues related to freedom of expression and fake news.

14 applicants from the selected list were awarded grants from Lot 1, Supporting document-based reporting on themes related to good governance, education, healthcare, economy and human rights and encourage access to public documents, and two of the selected applicants were awarded grants from Lot 2, Improving internal governance of the PCK and/or its members organizations in respecting labor laws, respecting copyright and applying best standards of media legislation & improving legal assistance to the media & improving the legal protection for whistleblowers.

All applicants received individual replies about their application, which also included an evaluation form with points and comments from the jury.

Below is the full list of the successful applicants of the Call for Proposals for the Medium and Small Grant Scheme package to “Contribute to strengthening independent, investigative and publicly beneficial journalism and freedom of expression in Kosovo” project.

List of awarded grantees

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BIRN dodeljuje novčana sredstva za 16 kandidata u okviru EU programa

Šesnaest  od četrdeset jednog prijavljenog kandidata, uključujući institucije, organizacije i pojedince, dobiće novčana sredstva u okviru programa malih i srednjih subvencija koje dodeljuje BIRN Kosovo, a finansijski podržava Evropska unija. Projektom „Doprinos jačanju nezavisnog, istraživačkog i novinarstva u interesu javnosti, kao i slobode izražavanja na Kosovu“, BIRN i partneri imaju za cilj da pomognu pojedincima i organizacijama u medijskom sektoru u njihovim naporima na poboljšanju transparentnosti, nezavisnosti i odgovornosti, kako u okviru samog sektora, tako i na Kosovu uopšte.

Ovi grantovi deo su projekta „Doprinos jačanju nezavisnog, istraživačkog i javno korisnog novinarstva i slobode izražavanja na Kosovu.” Četrnaest kandidata dobiće subvencije do pet hiljada evra, a dva  sredstva  u rasponu od dvadeset do trideset hiljada evra.

Ukupan iznos odobrenih sredstava iznosi 121.267 evra.

Dobitnike grantova odabrao je žiri koji se sastao  prvi put 18. juna kako bi ocenio sve projekte, a ocenjivani su značaj predloženih aktivnosti, kreativnost, finansijski okvir i potencijal projektnog tima, kao  i prethodna iskustava kandidata. Žiri se zatim sastao 21. juna kako bi porazgovarao o užem krugu kandidata i sastavio konačan spisak dobitnika finansijske podrške. Izabrani kandidati daće doprinos jačanju i razvoju istraživačkog novinarstva i slobode izražavanja, usavršavajući veštine medijskih profesionalaca u monitoringu, proveri činjenica i odgovornosti na čitavom Kosovu, u interesu svih građana. Izabrani predlozi uključuju raznolike aktivnosti, među kojima su  izgradnja kapaciteta, istraživačko novinarstvo, produkciju dokumentarnih emisija, korišćenje javnih dokumenata, kao i bavljenje pitanjima slobode izražavanja i lažnih vesti.

Četrnaest kandidata dobilo je subvencije iz Lot 1: Podrška  izveštavanju o dobroj upravi, obrazovanju, zdravstvenoj zaštiti, privredi i ljudskim pravima i podsticanje pristupa javnim dokumentima, a dva subvencije iz Lot 2: Unapređenje unutrašnjeg upravljanja PCK (Pravni centar Kosova) i/ili njegovih organizacija članica u poštovanju zakona o radu, poštovanju autorskog prava i primeni najboljih standarda sadržanih u medijskim propisima ii poboljšanje pravne pomoći pružene medijima, kao i poboljšanje pravne zaštite uzbunjivača.

Svi kandidati su dobili individualne odgovore o uspehu njihove prijave, uz obrazac procene i poene i komentare žirija.

U nastavku sledi potpun spisak odabranih kandidata.

Lista dobitnika subvencija

The Court in Ferizaj freed former judge Safete Tolaj from all charges of abuse of office on Friday.

According to the verdict the court announced on Friday, the State Prosecutor failed to prove the allegation that former Judge Tolaj, who resigned her post in November, had abused her office.

Judge Tolaj was indicted of abuse of office last year,  after BIRN’s Drejtesia ne Kosove programme aired footage of her son, Fisnik Tolaj, receiving a bribe in exchange of influencing judicial proceedings.

Fisnik, who faced charges of fraud, exertion of influence, forgery and illegal possession, and use of weapons, was found guilty on all charges and has been sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison.

The third defendant on the case, the police officer Granit Shehaj was also found not guilty on allegations of abuse of office, since according to the verdict, the prosecution also failed to prove that Shehaj exercised influence by abusing his position as a police officer.

The Ferizaj Court has refused the prosecution’s request to permanently confiscate an apartment valued at 40,000 euros, which is owned by the spouse of Fisnik Tolaj, Blerina Vishaj. The court has assessed that this property is not connected to the criminal offense, since the amount of this property exceeds the amount that Tolaj was being accused off.

The case is one of the 40 something earmarked cases for the track record of fighting corruption, the last criterion for Kosovo to get a visa-free regime to Schengen countries.

Originally published on BIRN’s Prishtina Insight.

The debate brought together policy-makers, education experts and journalists from Kosovo and Albania as well as senior officials.

The panel consisted of Albanian and Kosovo Education Ministers, Lindita Nikolla and Shyqiri Bytyci who opened the panel with statements regarding the current situation of education and future cooperation between their two countries.

The ministers, along with professors Artan Fuga and Dukagjin Pupovci, discussed education reform and efforts to ensure quality in both countries.

According to Kosovo Education Minister Bytyci, the situation in Kosovo and Albania regarding higher education is similar and points towards a “quality crisis” in both countries.

Bytyci said that Kosovo higher education institutions, he said that different universities are working as companies, where diplomas are being sold just like products.

Bytyci also said that now is the time for the government to come up with measures to combat these phenomena.

However Albanian Education Minister Lindita Nikolla said that even though the ministries of both countries have worked together towards the improvement of the quality of education, the situation in these countries was not identical.

Nikolla highlighted efforts to accredit higher education institutions in Albania which have recently been carried out using a British quality assurance strategy.

Professor Dukagjin Pupovci said that the main issues that are not being addressed are the selling of diplomas and unprofessional qualifications.

Professor Artan Fuga said that one of the most criticised policies has been the tariff increase at public universities.

After the panel, the conference continued with a presentation by the Professor Gazmend Luboteni and Professor Vjollca Krasniqi from the Kosovo Accreditation Agency, who spoke about the issues of accreditation and quality assurance.

The third part of the conference involved journalists Besa Kalaja from Preportr, Besnik Krasniqi from Koha Ditore and Rron Gjinovci from ORCA, who held a discussion under the title ‘Reporting and investigation in education: specific cases’.

On July 8, the conference was followed by an intensive workshop with journalists, who developed ideas for investigative stories on higher education in Kosovo.

Few corruption-related court cases in Kosovo end with a prison sentence, BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova’s annual court monitoring report for 2017, presented on Tuesday, said.

Since the first such report, 12 years ago, the project has monitored over 10,000 court sessions, revealing important evidence of violations and failings within the judiciary in Kosovo.

Introducing the report, Labinot Leposhtica, from BIRN’s legal office in Kosovo, noted that only 32 of 254 court verdicts on corruption in 2017 resulted in prison sentences.

In most cases, those found guilty received conditional prison sentences or fines, Leposhtica added.

The report outlined numerous instances of light sentences – and of seriously prolonged corruption-related court cases.

Leposhtica also drew attention to procedural violations by judges, prosecutors and lawyers, which were witnessed during the monitoring.

The report was presented at a panel discussion on Tuesday, when the panelists discussed the main findings – including that few corruption cases in Kosovo end in prison sentences.

Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo director, said that the past 12 years of court monitoring had revealed both progress and cause for disappointment.

She mentioned one notorious case, of Xhabir Zharku, former mayor of Kacanik, who after being convicted in Kosovo simply left the country and did not serve his prison sentence.

“The person you refer to is Kosovo’s shame, but such cases will not discourage us from supporting the judiciary. Such cases should not happen again,” Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Abelard Tahiri, said, responding to Xharra’s words.

Tahiri said he saw BIRN as a welcome partner in his own work in the justice system.

The head of the Kosovo Supreme Court, Enver Peci, said judges and prosecutors had become more disciplined as a result of BIRN’s monitoring work over the past 12 years.

He said it was good that “the courts are not afraid of BIRN any longer; before, people were like, ‘Run! The BIRN people are here’ … whereas now we’ve become more disciplined because of you,” Peci said.

Hasan Shala, head of the Court of Appeals, talked about some of the worst flaws in the judiciary. “There are secret compromises between judges and prosecutors,” he admitted.

But he also mentioned achievements. “There were 160 cases related to corruption in 2017, 145 of which were closed during the year, so only 15 were left to be finished in 2018,” Shala noted.

Nehat Idrizi, head of the Kosovo Judicial Council, agreed with the findings of the report but said they were working hard on evaluating judges who since last year had been assessed by a professional commission.

“Last year, we started evaluating the judges’ performances; 66 judges have been evaluated, most of them have received a positive assessment, and only two or three were negative and had to undergo further training,” he said.

Idrizi said the low number of judges was a challenge when the number of unfinished court cases remained significant.

He also highlighted the lack of supporting staff for judges, arguing that they had an insufficient number of personal aides.

The roundtable at the Palace of Justice in Pristina was intended to look again at suggestions made by civil society organisations about amendments to the laws on inheritance in Kosovo, which are seen as unfavourable to women.

Key speakers at the discussion included Lisa Magno, Acting Mission Director at USAID, MP Korab Sejdiu and Altin Ademi, advisor and chief of office to the Minister of Justice.

“USAID offers its full support on debate, discussion and passion about this issue,” said Magno.

She said it was very important that the package of laws should be moved forward.

“Without action, there will be no change,” she added.

MP Sejdiu affirmed that he and his colleagues stood ready to help and cooperate in order to improve the current situation of women in terms of inheritance, emphasising that the main issue is Kosovo society’s mentality about women’s roles.

“If, since they were in the womb, women have been at a disadvantage to men, this disadvantage will continue to follow them,” he said.

After remarks from the key speakers, the floor was opened up to a series of panellists – Nehat Idrizi, president of Kosovo Judicial Council, Enver Peci, president of the Supreme Court, Brian Kemple of the USAID Property Rights Programme, Hasan Shala, president of the Court of Appeals, Aferdita Bytyqi, president of the Basic Court in Pristina and Isa Kelmendi, a judge at the Supreme Court.

Addressing the issue of delayed inheritance, Kemple called for more activism and solidarity in society to help women by working on the recognition and implementation of their rights to inheritance.

Bytyqi called for the issue from men to be taken more seriously by men in Kosovo society.

“I call on those men who have an impact [on society], to seriously fight for this matter,” she said.

After the panel, the roundtable continued with an open discussion including prosecutors, lawyers, judges, parliament members, ministries, and civil society representatives.

The event ended with a request from MP Sejdiu to send any concrete suggestions about laws on inheritance to him, promising to try to push them forward together with his colleagues.

The moderators of the roundtable discussion, Kreshnik Gashi, editor and director of the TV programme ‘Justice in Kosovo’, and Labinot Leposhtica from the legal office of BIRN Kosovo, responded that these suggestions have been ready for a long time already and will be sent to Sejdiu.

The documentary, directed by Aleksandar Reljic, looks at the possibility of coexistence between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo.

In 2017, a Serbian far-right group called Zavetnici attempted to stop a screening of the film in Novi Sad, but the coordinators and the police prevented them.

The documentary originated from project ‘Real People – Real Solutions’, which addresses relations between Kosovo and Serbia from the perspectives of history, everyday life, and the future.

The project is a cooperation between the Association of Independent Journalists of Vojvodina, BIRN Kosovo and ZFD Forum Belgrade, with the support of the EU delegation in Serbia.

Four other movies have been shot as part of the same project.

The Serbian Contemporary Short and Documentary Film Festival is staged by the Orfelin Circle (Krug Orfelin) organisation.

At the conference, the panellists talked about human rights and the Ombudsperson’s role, then participants had the opportunity to discuss the topic with experts who are directly or indirectly involved in dealing with human rights.

The panellists were Gerrie Willems, the Netherlands’ ambassador to Kosovo, Mehdi Geci, a representative of the Ombudsperson, Tatjana Lazarevic, editor of the KoSSev news website and Ljubisa Bascarevic, a human rights activist.

Ambassador Williams said that the objective of the project is to raise public awareness and encourage people to report relevant information to the Ombudsperson.

Ombudsperson’s representative Geci said only two per cent of all citizens’ reports to the Kosovo Ombudsperson come from Serb cizens in the north, and they are mostly related to the usurpation of property and prolongation of judicial cases.

Lazarevic from KoSSev claimed meanwhile that human rights are being violated on a daily basis in Kosovo.