Richard Kerbaj is a BAFTA-winning, twice Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer and multi-award winning print journalist. Kerbaj specialized in investigating crime and national security-related stories during his 20 year career at newspapers in Australia and Britain. Kerbaj's most recent projects include the book ''The Secret History of the Five Eyes: The untold story of the international spy network'' in 2022, and ''Litvinenko'' in 2022, a true-crime TV drama centred on the 2006 assassination of

Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised i ...

by Russian agents operating in London.

Life

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia to parents of Druze origin, Kerbaj's family moved to a village in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in 1980 when he was 2 years old. They became trapped by the country's escalating civil war. His family returned to Melbourne and lived in Toorak where they ran a milk bar. During Kerbaj's final year of high school his English grades improved dramatically with help from tutor and friend Ben Sheehan. In March 2001, Kerbaj started a writing course at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

, where he studied under influential Australian author, journalist and photographer Peter Davis. Kerbaj's first newspaper article was an August 2001 profile of host of Barry Bissell, the host of radio show

Take 40 Australia ''Take 40 Australia'' was Australia's first and longest-running music countdown. It counted down the official top 40 singles on the ARIA chart on a weekly basis. It was broadcast nationally each week to over 1.2 million listeners. Starting in ...

, which was published in

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

. Kerbaj initially worked as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

before he started working for ''The Australian'' newspaper in 2005. In 2006 Kerbaj published an article on Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilali which won the

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

Prize for Journalism and a Young Journalist of the Year award at

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

which gave him the opportunity to work at a News Limited publication in London for three months. In 2018 Kerbaj shared the " Scoop of the Year" award with Tom Harper and Jon Ungoed-Thomas at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...

for their reporting on pornography found on the computer of

Damian Green Damian Howard Green (born 17 January 1956) is a British politician who served as First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office from June to December 2017 in the Second May government. A member of the Conservative Party, he has b ...

. In December, Kerbaj praised the series' star David Tennant, stating that he had: "Saved our show because it was commissioned a few months before COVID hit. Had David decided not to stay involved, I’m not sure the drama would've been made."

Producer

* ''

My Son the Jihadi ''My Son the Jihadi'' is a 2015 British documentary directed by Peter Beard. Produced for broadcast television. It was broadcast on 22 October 2015 on Channel 4. Synopsis The documentary is about a British mother, Sally Evans, whose son, Thomas ...

'', a BAFTA winning documentary about the mother of Thomas Evans, an Al Shabaab militant who was killed in 2015. * ''Hunting the KGB Killers'', a documentary about the

poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko A poison can be any substance that is harmful to the body. It can be swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin. Poisoning is the harmful effect that occurs when too much of that substance has been taken. Poisoning is not to ...

Books

* Reviews:

References

External links

Profile at The Times UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerbaj, Richard 21st-century Australian journalists BAFTA winners (people) 21st-century Australian writers The Press Awards 1970s births Living people