30. 04. 2014

B92's Brankica Stanković on "100 Information Heroes" list

PARIS, 30.4.2014 (B92.net) - Reporters Without Borders has for the first time published a list of profiles of "100 Information Heroes" to mark World Press Freedom Day, May 3.

The organization said in a press release that through their courageous work or activism, these "100 heroes" help to promote the freedom enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the freedom to to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

"They put their ideals in the service of the common good. They serve as examples," the RWB statement said.

"World Press Freedom Day, which Reporters Without Borders helped to create, should be an occasion for paying tribute to the courage of the journalists and bloggers who constantly sacrifice their safety and sometimes their lives to their vocation," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire.

The statement noted that the "non-exhaustive list pays homage not only to the 100 famous and less well known people on it, but also to all the professional and non-professional journalists who constantly help to shed light on the world and cover every aspect of its reality."

Brankica Stanković, at the helm of B92 media group's flagship investigative TV program Insajder ("Insider") since 2004, was "just doing her job in November 2009 when she tackled the sensitive issue of links between organized crime and hooligans that support the Belgrade football club Partizan," said the RWB list profile for the B92 TV reporter, and added:

"That may have been her last moment of complete freedom."

"Amid death threats and acts of intimidation that included the stabbing of an inflatable doll representing Stanković in the stands of the Partizan stadium, the police put her under protection. She nonetheless still continues to investigate organized crime and corruption," the entry said.

The full list of profiles is available here (PDF file)