Xhabir Deralla, investigative journalist from North Macedonia, has been awarded with the Southeast Europe Associations’ Solidarity Award for Journalists from Southeast Europe for his courageous and outstanding investigative work. The prize was handed over by the President of the SOG and German Federal Government Special Representative for the Countries of the Western Balkans Manuel Sarrazin and MP Josip Juratovic at a ceremony in the German Bundestag on July 4, 2024.
“Corrupt media means the end of democracy. The fight for the media literacy of the population is therefore also a fight for democracy. One of these fighters is Xhabir Deralla. […] For more than three decades, he has made an extraordinary contribution to the struggle for justice, freedom and truth, especially in the context of North Macedonia and the Western Balkans. […] Despite facing threats and hate speech from ultra-nationalist and pro-Russian groups, Deralla continues to work tirelessly to promote the values he believes are essential for social progress. His courage, dedication and unwavering commitment to human rights and freedom make him a true hero of our time,” said Josip Juratovic MdB, SOG vice-president and Chair of the German-Southeast-European Parliamentary group, in his laudatory speech.
The Solidarity Award of the Southeast Europe Association honours courageous journalists from the region who expose themselves to high personal risks for critical reporting. It thereby acknowledges their outstanding work and recognizes their contribution to more democracy, rule of law and press freedom in the region. Xhabir Deralla is the fifth winner of this award, after Dragan Bursać, Una Hajdari, Ivana Gordić Perc, and Pelin Ünker.
“This award means that we are not alone. That the work is hard and the fight is even harder, but there is recognition. It means that there is solidarity. Support. Hope. It is an unexpected, but much-needed recognition for the work and the relentless efforts that my colleagues and I put into ensuring that facts prevail over lies, manipulation, and propaganda. We defend the right to speak our minds and reveal the true stories of the discriminated and oppressed, even at the cost of our well-being and safety. I will continue doing my best to live up to every word spoken here today,” Deralla said in his acceptance speech.
About the award winner: Xhabir Memedi Deralla, born in 1967, is a human rights activist, writer, journalist, and hybrid warfare analyst. He is one of the founders and serves as the head of CIVIL, a prominent human rights organization based in North Macedonia established in 1999. Deralla leads the organization’s creative initiatives and serves as the chief coordinator and producer of multimedia projects, awareness-raising campaigns, festivals, documentaries, conferences, and other projects and events. He also holds the role of editor-in-chief and contributes as an author, analyst, and columnist for media outlets within CIVIL’s media platform.
Deralla’s career spans back to 1989, during which he has worked with numerous media organizations both domestically and internationally. He has been a member of the Association of Journalists of North Macedonia since 1990, and a member of Amnesty International since 1994. Since 2008, Deralla has also been the person in charge of election observation operations of CIVIL in North Macedonia, cooperating with numerous international and regional organizations in that area.
Additionally, Deralla and his team are specialized in several fields, including arms control (CIVIL is a senior member organization of IANSA), and countering disinformation and hybrid warfare tactics in the country and the Western Balkans region.
PRESS RELEASE IN MACEDONIAN (LINK)
PRESS RELEASE IN ALBANIAN (LINK)
PRESS RELEASE IN SERBIAN (PDF)
