Jelena Jevtić, a journalist at the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) and author of the documentary “Where is Sara?”, received special recognition for her contribution to journalism at this year’s award ceremony for the best journalist, presented by the Banja Luka Journalists’ Club.
Jevtić and producer Mubarek Asani spent a year searching with parents for the graves of their children, and in the film, two mothers shared their painful experiences of childbirth and the disappearance of their children. Their testimonies caused significant public concern, prompting demands from institutions and authorities for answers about the fate of the babies. The documentary film “Where is Sara?” was released in early April 2024.
Darko Momić Čkalja, a journalist from Capital.ba, received the award for Best Journalist, while Vanja Stokić and Ajdin Kamber, journalists from eTrafika.net, were also given special awards for their contributions to journalism. The awards were presented to the journalists on May 24, 2024, in Banja Luka at the „Off the Record“ journalist gathering organized by the Banja Luka Journalists’ Club.
The winners were selected by a five-member jury, comprised of previous award winners, who evaluated journalistic works of public interest that adhered to the principles of professional reporting and included facts and evidence obtained through the journalists’ efforts.
Following the release of the documentary “Where is Sara?”, the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an official investigation into the disappearance of the babies born to mothers Aleksandra Blagojević and Nataša Stijak at the University Clinical Center of Republika Srpska (UKCRS) in 2018.
The Banja Luka Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that they would examine the allegations presented, collect all necessary information and reports, and ascertain the circumstances surrounding the case.
Sara’s parents, Aleksandra Blagojević and Miloš Kuprešanin reported all the events to authorities in 2019, prompting the Banja Luka Public Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation. However, in October 2021, prosecutor Zorica Baroš issued a Non-Investigation Order based on reports from two experts who found no evidence of negligence or misconduct by the medical staff.
At that time, the Prosecutor’s Office did not investigate where Sara was buried, despite the parents mentioning this in their statements.
Three days after Sara’s birth, Aleksandra and Miloš were informed by UKCRS that their baby had died.
After Aleksandra’s discharge from the hospital, they waited for a month for the results of the autopsy report, relying on unclear and incomplete information they received at the hospital. Meanwhile, they received a gift package for newborns, but no one informed them about the results of the autopsy.
To find out what was happening, they went to UKCRS to inquire about the autopsy, only to discover that the hospital had, without their knowledge or permission, buried Sara in the city cemetery.
Aleksandra and Miloš then began a battle with institutions and establishments and embarked on a search for their child’s body, but encountered silence and closed doors: the Public Enterprise City Cemetery and UKCRS ignored all their requests for answers and dialogue, while the OPP Banja Luka closed the case two and a half years after their report.
After the documentary was released, the City Cemetery of Banja Luka and UKCRS issued statements in which they mutually shifted responsibility for the disappearance of baby Sara, born in Banja Luka’s Paprikovac area in 2018.
The statements made no mention of the second baby, the son of Nataša Stijak.
The Cemetery Administration asserted that the body of the baby identified as the child of Aleksandra Blagojević was received from UKCRS, along with accompanying documentation issued by this healthcare institution. They added that they could not perform the body identification upon receipt.
The burial of the deceased’s remains is usually preceded by identification by the relatives of the deceased, which is recorded on the prescribed form at the City Cemetery, the Administration stated.
In their address, they wrote that the body was buried almost a month after being received and that during that time, no one contacted them regarding the burial.
The Cemetery’s statement fails to mention Nataša Stijak’s baby and does not clarify the actual burial location of Sara, despite exhumations and DNA analyses revealing that neither baby was found in the two graves.
UKCRS issued a similar statement the day before, briefly stating that they had complied with all medical protocols in the treatment of the pregnant woman and the newborn, as well as the legal regulations based on which the autopsy was performed, emphasizing that they have no responsibility for the burial, funeral, and exhumation of bodies.
„Furthermore, in our archives, we have a confirmation that the deceased was taken over by the City Cemetery of Banja Luka,“ concludes the statement, drawing attention to another institution in the chain of responsibility.
Despite the significant public concern caused by CIN’s documentary, none of the officials from the Cemetery or UKCRS have personally addressed the media, nor have they allowed questions from journalists since the release of the film.
Thus, their statements also do not provide an answer to the question of where the daughter of Aleksandra Blagojević and Miloš Kuprešanin and the son of Nataša Stijak are.
