The story “Mini landfill near the Veles market” of a group of citizen journalists – participants of the seminar in Veles, won the first prize in the latest awarding cycle for best citizen journalists. The story was made by Blagojco Kostadinov, Julija Nikolovska, Jovan Jovanovski, Rihad Redzepi and Delfina Janeva.
“The only hope is that awareness will be raised in each individual on matters, and that the institutions will show interest in changing things in our everyday life” stated citizen journalist Julija Nikolovska.
Citizen journalist from Stip, Delfina Janeva, thanked CIVIL’s team for their efforts in promoting citizen journalism through which they had the opprtunity to participate in the seminar in Veles, to learn and apply that knowledge on the ground.
“My message is to never be afraid. If you notice irregularities, that there is no freedom or that there is discrimination, if you face a problem, seek an answer from the institutions. We are the media, and if we don’t ask for an answer we will not make changes”, stated Janeva.
Rihad Redzepi, citizen journalist from Saraj, Skopje, expressed hope that the problem the citizens of Veles are facing, and one that is a topic of their survey, will find a positive reaction from the local government and that after a long time it will be fully resolved.
“We are always fostering the principle of anonymity. If you are afraid, or you simply do not want to appear publically, we will protect your privacy. If you have a problem, we will try to investigate all the legal possibilities to protect your human right and freedoms. I once again remind that you are all invited to participate also in the election monitoring…In regards of the gratitude for the participants in the project, I will just say that you still are and will remain part of the project and of CIVIL”, stated Xhabir Deralla, President of the organization, thanking them for the nice words and the support they gave to the entire team of CIVIL.
Biljana Jordanovska (text, photography, editing)
Camera: Dehran Muratov
This post is also available in: Macedonian
