Following the first panel, the BCSP director Igor Bandović stressed the significance of the newly established “Lighthouse” award that aims to reward individuals of exceptional courage in their professional tasks in the fields of security and foreign policy, both men and women. The “Lighthouse” serves as a reminder of the virtues that should characterize individuals in society and symbolizes the destination we should reach and the path we must traverse to become better individuals and a better society, with the courageous acts of these individuals lighting our way.

 

 

This year, the “Lighthouse” award was presented to Aleksandar Obradović, a Serbian whistleblower who published documents that revealed corruption and fraud in the public company “Krušik”.

 

 

Aleksandar Obradović was born in Valjevo on March 2, 1979. He worked at the “Krušik” factory in Valjevo until he discovered corruption and financial malpractices related to the arms trade within the factory. When he disclosed this information, he was arrested by members of the BIA on September 18, 2019, and taken to prison in Belgrade on espionage charges. In October 2019, he was released from prison and placed under house arrest. News of Obradović’s arrest led to mass protests in solidarity with him in Valjevo, Belgrade, and Novi Sad. In December 2019, public pressure and protests yielded results, and Aleksandar Obradović was released from house arrest. He is still under investigation today, and his whistleblower status has not been recognized. He has been suspended from his job at the factory.

 

 

With his courage and professionalism, Aca Obradović prevented arrogant, corrupt elites from destroying a public enterprise through theft and corruption. Instead of being rewarded, he was subjected to persecution and the tyranny of an autocratic regime mired in corruption. Aca Obradović describes himself as an ordinary man, but he is not just an ordinary man. In a society where there is no moral order, where the difference between good and evil is not recognized and not important, this noble act of Aleksandar Obradović is the unwavering struggle of a citizen against evil and a captured state that has taken control of all state institutions and poisoned nearly the entire society.

Obradović gratefully accepted the award and thanked the director of BCSP, as well as the audience for the bestowed award.