The Anti-Corruption Fund has announced the winners of the Red Line Award for 2020

At an online ceremony on the International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9, the Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) announced the winners of the Red Line Awards for Journalism Against Corruption.

The jury of the awards, chaired by Prof. Ivo Draganov, New Bulgarian University and NATFA “Krastyo Sarafov,” and with members Irina Nedeva, a journalist at the Bulgarian National Radio and chairman of the Association of European Journalists, lawyer Alexander Kashumov from Access to Information Program, Nikolay Staykov, investigative journalist and co-founder of ACF, and Boyko Stankushev, director of ACF, reviewed 26 nominations of journalists from 15 media.

The jury gave five prizes:

• Award for journalistic investigation to Nikolay Stoyanov from “Capital” for his series of articles on suspicious loans from the state Bulgarian Development Bank;
• Award for promoting the rule of law to Martin Georgiev from “Sega” for a series of articles dealing with the problems of the judiciary in Bulgaria;
• Award for a young journalist to Marian Ivanov, BNR – Radio Burgas for follow up on several cases of suspicion of corrupt practices in Burgas and the region;
• Award for overall contribution and presence to Kanna Racheva, bTV
• Award for Regional Journalism to Venelina Popova for a series of articles revealing the origin of donations made by MP Delyan Peevski.

The jury also made two special remarks:

• to Nikolay Marchenko, from Bivol for his journalistic intransigence and courage.
• to Polina Paunova from Free Europe for her journalistic audacity and reflex.

2020 is the first year in which the ACF presents the Red Line Award for journalism against corruption, but the fund states that this is a long-term initiative. The award is designed to honor courageous journalists and investigators who have shed light on corruption cases or contributed to the establishment of the rule of law in Bulgaria.

“Civil mobilization against corruption is impossible without bold journalistic investigations,” said Boyko Stankushev, director of the ACF. “They reveal the specific facts, trace the connections, describe the context, remind us of what they have conveniently left us to forget. It is the journalists who allow us to outline the real outlines of the problems we face. ”

The Red Line Competition for Journalism against Corruption is organized with the support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation and the US Embassy in Bulgaria.