BIRN Trains Journalists in Transitional Justice Reporting

The three-day training course on transitional justice reporting, organised by BIRN in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, started in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Monday.

A total of 25 reporters from various countries across the former Yugoslavia are being trained by journalists with substantial experience in covering war crimes trials and transitional justice topics, and hearing from experts who are directly involved in legal processes, such as prosecutors and court officials.

The participants were addressed at the start of the course by Francine Pickup, the UNDP resident representative in Serbia, who pointed out that there are still hundreds of war crimes cases to be prosecuted in the region and said that the training could help journalists address challenges they might face while reporting on the proceedings.

"We hope that this training will help you in your reporting and that it will give you some advice on how to strengthen your relationships with relevant institutions," Pickup said.

As well as looking at the essentials of criminal procedures, best practices for reporting on cases and sources of information for journalists, the course also focuses on the role that victims play in war crimes trial processes.

Expert panellists at the course include Ivan Jovanovic from UNDP Regional War Crimes Project, Nemanja Stjepanovic from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Registry, Bosnia and Herzegovina's state prosecution spokesperson Boris Grubjesic, Croatian Chief State Attorney's Office spokesperson Martina Mihordin, and Vasilije Saratlic, deputy war crimes prosecutor and spokesperson at Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor's Office.

BIRN's Regional Director Marija Ristic said that...