Anuška Delić, Slovenia, is an investigative and data journalist who leads a unique two-headed microregional nonprofit investigative journalism center, Oštro in Slovenia and Oštro in Croatia. She is also a Balkans regional editor with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
During her career she has investigated a variety of issues from asbestos on state-owned train infrastructure and abuses of election campaign law, to Slovenia's own anabolic steroid king Mihael Karner. In 2011, she uncovered how leaders of the Slovenian branch of worldwide neo-Nazi organization Blood&Honor were actively involved in the ranks of the country's leading right-wing party, for which she was prosecuted by Slovenian authorities until charges were dramatically dropped by state prosecutors minutes before judgment. Subsequently, the Slovenian government changed the article of criminal code relating to the publication of state secrets.
Delić led The MEPs Project, for which she gathered journalists representing all 28 European Union member states who filed requests for access to documents of the European Parliament on how Members of the European Parliament spend the professional allowances they receive on top of their paychecks. Journalists were refused access, and eventually brought the case to the European Court of Justice. In December 2017, Delić was named as one of Politico's 28 people "shaping, shaking and stirring Europe".
She is a recipient of several awards, including the Slovene Association of Journalists' Watchdog Award for Extraordinary Achievements. Since leaving Slovenia's main daily Delo in 2018 to establish Oštro in Ljubljana, she has been busy developing reporters, editors and investigative/data journalism in two countries.
Slovenian investigative reporter Anuška Delić, who made the Politico 28 Class of 2018, talks about how her MEP project got started and the challenges she faced.
