29 Nov The case of a Serbian Whistleblower

Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists created alert on 21 November 2019 on House Arrest of Serbian Whistleblower Aleksandar Obradović, with category “Other acts having chilling effects on media freedom”.

The alert reported that since November 2018, several articles by Arms Watch, the weekly NIN and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) have alleged the involvement of Branko Stefanović, the father of Minister of the Interior Nebojša Stefanović, in the trade of “Krušik” armament by the private company GIM. 

The alert also states that on 18 September 2019, Aleksandar Obradović, a purchasing assistant with the state-run arms factory Krušik in Valjevo who had leaked information to the media exposing that GIM was given privileged treatment in arms deals at the expense of Krušik and other state arms producers, was arrested. The Belgrade County Public Prosecutor opened a criminal investigation on charges of disclosing business secrets, and on 20 September 2019, the High Court in Belgrade ordered Obradović’s house arrest.

References from the website of the Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/media-freedom/detail-alert?p_p_id=sojdashboard_WAR_coesojportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_sojdashboard_WAR_coesojportlet_alertId=54508940