CIVIL – Center for Freedom yesterday at Hotel City Park awarded the awards for the most successful stories of citizen journalists for the past two months.

Those present at the awarding ceremonies were introduced with the Civic Lenses project, which according to the President of CIVIL, Xhabir Deralla, is a project of all aware and active citizens.

The two fourth place awards this time went into the hands of citizen journalists from Tetovo and Bitola. The shocking story about the tragic fire in Tetovo in which a mother and her four children lost their lives, written by citizen journalist Pero Naumovski, and the text of citizen journalist Marjan Nikolovski from Bitola who wrote about the grotesque situation in which the Public Revenue Office  closed the Public Revenue Office in Bitola, shared these awards.

The third place award this time went to the informal unit CIVIL Media, “for their tireless effort and complete engagement in high schools in Skopje”, where in the past months they have been organizing debates with their classmates on various social topics that concern the young people in this country. These debates of the CIVIL Media team in cooperation with Makedoks continue further, whereas CIVIL’s three-member jury with this award decided to pay respect to the tireless efforts, but also to encourage the further work.

The story about the homeless man who was taken off the bus of the Public Transportation Enterprise Skopje with the help of special police forces, is a story that stirred many strong reactions in the public, and a story that CIVIL awarded this time with a second place award.

The first place award, for which in addition to the three-member a jury another jury in a wider composition also decided, was given to the team of CIVIL and citizen activists who helped in revealing a dark scandal in the institutions competent for care of children and homeless people – “25 May” and “Ranka Milanovik”, and that is the case with the  11-year-old girl in care of the institution who is a victim of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.

Dehran Muratov, journalist, activist and member of CIVIL’s team, received the award on behalf of all those who were awarded. At the ceremony he stated that he dedicates this award to those who are most deserving for this, that is, those who found the courage to publically speak out about the monstrous things that had been happening in these institutions.

Maja Ivanovska