Jelena Jevtić and Mubarek Asani, journalists at the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIN), have won the first European Union Award for Investigative Journalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina for their documentary Where is Sara?
For a year, Jevtić and Asani worked alongside the parents searching for the graves of their missing children. The film features two mothers sharing their harrowing experiences of childbirth and the disappearance of their babies. Their testimonies sparked widespread public concern, prompting calls for answers from institutions and authorities about the fate of the children.
CIN journalist Dženita Lutvić received the third prize for her Zenica’s Steel Wound story. In her investigation, Lutvić uncovered that ArcelorMittal Zenica had breached nearly all the environmental permit measures issued by FBiH authorities at the end of 2022.
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Soil analyses revealed dangerously high levels of heavy metals in the Zenica communities of Tetovo and Pehare, resulting from emissions from the steel plant’s chimneys. Hazardous metals in the soil exceeded safe limits for human health, while carcinogenic airborne particles, including benzene and benzo[a]pyrene, were detected within the plant’s vicinity at levels up to 255 times above the legal threshold.
The second prize went to journalist Dejan Rakita for a series of reports on lithium exploitation published on the portal Objavi.ba.
Predrag Blagovčanin, a journalist at Tačno.net, also received a third-place award for his story The Non-Transparency of the United Nations: How did the UNDP distribute millions of dollars to BiH to fight Covid.
The EU awards have the overall goal of celebrating and promoting the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists from the Western Balkan countries and Turkey. It promotes the outstanding achievements of investigative journalists and contributes to better visibility of quality investigative journalism.
The awards were presented at the 2025 European Union Investigative Journalism Awards ceremony in Sarajevo on 2 October.
Award-Winning Stories
Jevtić and Asani followed baby Sara’s parents, Aleksandra Blagojević and Miloš Kuprešanin, capturing their struggle with institutions and authorities as they searched for their child’s body.
Following the release of the documentary Where is Sara?, the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office (OJT) opened an official investigation into the disappearance of the babies of mothers Blagojević and Nataša Stijak, who gave birth at the Republika Srpska University Clinical Centre (UKCRS) in 2018.
The Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office has stated that it will examine the allegations, gather all necessary information and notifications, and establish the circumstances of the case.
Sara’s parents, Aleksandra Blagojević and Miloš Kuprešanin, initially reported everything that had happened to them back in 2019, and the OJT opened a case. However, in October 2021, Prosecutor Zorica Baroš issued an order not to pursue an investigation, based on reports from two experts who concluded that the actions of the medical staff did not involve negligence or malpractice.
At the time, the prosecution did not investigate where Sara had been buried, despite her parents providing this information in their statements.
Three days after Sara’s birth, Aleksandra and Miloš were informed by the University Clinical Centre of the Republic of Srpska (UKCRS) that their baby had died.
After Aleksandra was discharged from the hospital, the couple waited for a month for the results of the autopsy, relying on unclear and incomplete information provided by the hospital. Meanwhile, they received a newborn gift package, but no one communicated the results of the autopsy to them.
In an effort to find out what had happened, they went to the University Clinical Centre of the Republic of Srpska seeking information about the autopsy, only to learn that the hospital had, without their knowledge or consent, buried Sara at the city cemetery.
During their search for their child’s body, Aleksandra and Miloš repeatedly encountered silence and closed doors. The public company City Cemetery and UKCRS ignored all their requests for answers and meetings, and after two and a half years, the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office closed the case related to their complaint.
In her report, CIN journalist Dženita Lutvić revealed how residents of Zenica’s communities around ArcelorMittal are acutely aware of the pollution and risks generated by the steel giant’s operations, yet feel powerless to bring about any change.
“We’re used to it,” said Besim Dedić, a Tetovo resident whom the journalist found planting potatoes, fully aware of the hazards of growing vegetables in his garden.
Soil analyses conducted in March 2024 showed dangerously high levels of heavy metals in Tetovo and Pehare, traced back to emissions from the steel plant’s chimneys. The tests detected concentrations of arsenic, lead, zinc, cadmium, nickel, and copper that exceeded safe limits for human health. For CIN’s investigation, the FBiH Institute for Agropedology analysed soil samples from 50 locations, including private gardens, schools, health centres, religious sites, and streets throughout Tetovo and Pehare.
The Institute had alerted FBiH and local authorities to the soil contamination over a decade ago, yet no measures were ever taken to ban cultivation in the area or to initiate soil decontamination.
Air quality analyses conducted in 2022 by the Kemal Kapetanović Institute in Zenica also revealed the presence of carcinogenic airborne particles, including benzene and benzo[a]pyrene, within the steel plant’s perimeter. The concentrations measured were up to 255 times higher than the legally permitted limits for protecting human health.
CIN’s investigation further found that the company had violated nearly all of the 141 environmental permit conditions, with no indication that it intends to comply with seven of the requirements within the prescribed deadlines. The company has also consistently failed to meet the obligations set out in its original 2004 contract with the federal authorities, when it acquired the steel plant for a single dollar. Nevertheless, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not revoked ArcelorMittal’s operating permit, despite having the authority to do so.
