Stevan Dojčinović
Stevan Dojčinović is a 32 years old investigative reporter and editor, based in Belgrade. He is editor in chief of Serbian investigative portal KRIK and he works in the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) team for nine years.
With a group of five journalists in April 2015 Dojcinovic has founded Crime and Corruption Reporting Network – KRIK, a non-profit organization established to improve the investigative journalism in Serbia. Under his leadership KRIK’s readership has grown to more than a half million readers per month.
As the editor of KRIK Stevan has been a target of numerous smear campaigns that had been launched against him by the pro-government media. Because of his dedicated journalistic work, he was under surveillance of state security agencies, which had supplied the tabloids with the details from his private life. Dojcinovic was and still is under a lot of pressure, because the most despicable lies are being published about him. Every time KRIK releases a new investigation, the machinery of the government media launches a new set of accusations against him. However, numerous international organizations have stood in his defence, as well as a large number of Serbian citizens. Stevan and his team had successfully worked regardless of smear campaigns and pressures.
One of Stevan’s most famous stories is the one from September 2015 about secret videotapes that show meetings of drug gang boss with the officials of the Serbian Ministry of Police.
Stevan and journalists from KRIK have also revealed that Sinisa Mali, the Mayor of Belgrade is the director of two offshore companies, which purchased more than 20 apartments on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Stevan and his colleague have discovered that Mali had participated in several others shady deals and wrongdoings. Their latest discovery from February 2017 has shown that Mali has organized last year’s violent demolition of a Belgrade neighbourhood because it stood in the way of the ‘Belgrade Waterfront’ construction project.
Stevan and his team even found that Serban Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar has withheld important details about his ties to the notorious criminal group called “Zemun Clan”. They proved that Minister Loncar had acquired an apartment in Belgrade from a gang member.
Stevan has also discovered that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his family own seven properties worth more than 1.1 million $ in the Serbian capital. After this KRIK has created the most comprehensive online Database of assets of Serbian politicians, which currently consists of property cards of all ministers and all presidential candidates from 2017 Elections.
KRIK team was also part of famous international Panama Papers project and analysed leaked documents that were connected to Serbia, Stevan was leader of that team. KRIK exposed wealthy local businessman and criminals that used offshore companies for different deeds.
Stevan Dojčinović was selected for the 2015 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘Unholy Alliances’