Friendly Media: Why Hungarian Whistleblowers Turn to Journalists Rather than Officials

By Márton Sarkadi Nagy In April 2015 leaders of three Hungarian anti-corruption NGOs gathered in Budapest for press conference to reach cooperation agreement. Their aim was to create a practical framework for whistleblowers to come forward more easily, and inform the citizens they finally had the opportunity to do so.

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A Whistleblower’s Road to Nowhere: The Story of Mara Paraipan

This is the story of Mara Paraipan, a Romanian civil servant who blew the whistle on the Romanian Ministry of Transport * Seven months after she arrived at the ministry’s construction authorisation department in Bucharest, Paraipan had to approve a budget for an urgent construction project along the national road

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Sextortion: why we need a new generation of whistleblowers

All the women who share sextortion issues in this text are listed under false identities to protect sources. However, their statements are recorded and they have consented to their publication. Monika always thought that once she had finished her studies, when she applied for a job, it would be completely

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Croatia: newly proposed anti-leak legislation could further worsen the precarious situation of whistleblowers

When Maja Đerek realized the company where she worked wasn’t collecting rental fees for some of its business spaces, she didn’t know the story would unravel into a national affair revealing a system of widespread clientelism, abuse of position and trading in influence involving highly positioned politicians. The affair implicated

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Reporting corruption in Ukraine: Crowdsourcing whistleblowers when all else fails

“The court’s decision is a significant achievement both for me personally and for the entire anti-corruption system in general,” says Euhen Shevchenko, “For the first time in the history of Ukraine, a citizen will receive a decent reward from the state for exposing a crime of corruption. This brings the

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Whistleblowing in Montenegro: A Steep Path to Justice

“Being a whistleblower in Montenegro is difficult. Nobody enjoys living in uncertainty and worrying about their family’s well-being, but it comes from within and I had to react to obvious irregularities.” That’s how Milisav Dragojević, a retired engineer and one of Montenegro’s first public whistleblowers, describes his experiences reporting misconduct

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Success! – Dismissal and criminal charges sought for North Macedonia’s Film Agency Director

Following the report of Milčo Mančevski, on November 15, 2023, the Macedonian State Commission for Prevention of Corruption asked for the dismissal of the Film Agency director and filed criminal charges against him. The director and his board were the driving force behind the persecution of Milčo Mančevski after he

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52 Women Accuse Doctors of Violence and Corruption in Bosnian Maternity Wards

One mother threatened with ‘cutting and stitching’ unless she paid a bribe; formal criminal complaints filed against doctors, nurses and midwives in Zenica Fifty-two women have filed formal criminal complaints against doctors, nurses and midwives at a Bosnian hospital for physical abuse and demanding bribes from them in the very

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Filmmaker Milcho Manchevski’s Latest Drama: Corruption Fighter

By Mark Worth Coalition Co-coordinator Milcho Manchevski is accustomed to walking down red carpets. Over his 30-year career, the Macedonian director and writer has been nominated for an Academy Award, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and was named best director at Raindance. At its world premiere,

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Disabled Whistleblower Wins Epic Case in Moldova

By Mark Worth Coalition Co-coordinator As if being a whistleblower is not difficult enough. Exposing hidden crimes requires a special kind courage most people don’t have. On top of this, imagine you are a disabled orphan – abandoned by your parents, housed in an abusive orphanage your entire childhood, and

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