Drago Hedl (born 24 January 1950) is a Croatian investigative journalist. Drago Hedl was born in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

and became a professional journalist in 1980. He was an Editor-in-Chief of ''

Glas Slavonije ''Glas Slavonije'' () is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Osijek. In 2000, its average daily circulation was c. 9000, making it the 7th largest daily newspaper in Croatia. History It is considered that ''Glas Slavonije'' is successor ...

'', an Osijek-based daily, from 1986 to 1991, and a war correspondent for '' Slobodna Dalmacija'', a Split-based daily, from 1991 to 1994. Following that, he joined IWPR's London-based War Report and then spent several years leading training programs for young journalists throughout the Balkan region. Hedl later wrote for '' Feral Tribune'', and '' Novi list''. Hedl was a long-time collaborator of Radio Free Europe. His articles were published by many newspapers and magazines, among them ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' and '' Die Wochenzeitung'' (Zurich). In 2008 he became an investigative journalist for the Zagreb-based daily '' Jutarnji list''. Hedl is best known for his investigative work for ''Feral Tribune'' and from 2008 for ''Jutarnji list'' in uncovering war crimes during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

. This earned him a 2006 Knight International Journalism Award from the

International Center for Journalists International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is a non-profit, professional organization located in Washington, D.C., United States, that promotes journalism worldwide. Since 1984, the International Center for Journalists has worked directly with m ...

, the CEI-SEEMO Investigative Journalism Award by the Central European Initiative in 2008 and a 2011 ''Dr. Erhard Busek'' Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe from the South East Europe Media Organisation. He was also the recipient of the

Order of Stjepan Radić The Order of Stjepan Radić ( hr, Red Stjepana Radića) is a Croatian national decoration which ranks thirteenth in importance. The order was formed on 1 April 1995. The Order of Stjepan Radić is granted to Croatians and foreigners for services ...

in 2011 for his "contribution to the fight for human rights, the promotion of democracy and the discovery of truth" and the

Otokar Keršovani Prize The Otokar Keršovani Prize is a life achievement award for Journalism in Croatia, administered by the Croatian Journalists' Association. The award is decided by a jury, i. e. by two-thirds majority vote of the attending members. The award consi ...

from the Croatian Journalists' Association for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism in 2015. "Drago Hedl has endured death threats, government litigation, beatings by local politicians and army soldiers, among others, and verbal abuse for his reporting of war crimes in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. His struggle against ultra-nationalism, wartime propaganda and hate speech, and for tolerance and the rule of law, has led to accusations of treason. His support for complying with demands to send indicted war criminals to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague has further provoked his opponents. Nothing, however, has deterred him from solid and objective coverage of a sensitive topic in his homeland." Hedl has written seven books and has been the scriptwriter for three films, including ''Vukovar – poslednji rez'' (''Vukovar – Final Cut''), a 2006 documentary film about the

Battle of Vukovar The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Bar ...

. His book, ''Glavaš – kronika jedne destrukcije'' (2010), an account of the involvement of warlord and politician Branimir Glavaš in war crimes in Osijek, has been very favorably received. Hedl has been married for eight years to Ivana, a fellow journalist, and has one son, Matija. He holds a bachelor's degree in Yugoslav literature.

References

External links

Drago Hedl

Promocija knjiga o Glavašu i Gotovini

Drago Hedl: Strah je najstarija emocija, starija od ljubavi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedl, Drago 1950 births Croatian journalists People from Osijek Investigative journalists Living people Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni