The Special Award went to Barbara Matejčić for "Killing for the photo", published by Novosti (Croatia) and BIRN (Serbia). The investigation re-examines the chilling circumstances surrounding the only professional photograph to capture an act of execution during the Bosnian War. Taken in Brčko in May 1992, the images depict the cold-blooded murder of Bosniak civilians by the Serb war criminal Goran Jelisić, later sentenced to 40 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Purchased by Reuters, published around the world and awarded a World Press Photo a year later, the photograph raised questions that went unasked for three decades: how could a photographer capture a murder from such close range, why did the killer allow himself to be photographed, and what was the photographer's own role in what unfolded?
Drawing on nearly thirty first-hand sources, among them the photographer and his colleague, the imprisoned perpetrator, the victim's family, Reuters editors, members of the World Press Photo jury, war reporters and ICTY investigators and witnesses, Matejčić's investigation uncovers a web of complicity, propaganda and journalistic ethics gone awry.
The judges described it as "a fascinating story that turns many previously unturned stones" and "a really impressive reporting effort that is very powerful and rare. A fantastic piece of reporting with perfect dramaturgy."
The other winners
The European Press Prize 2026 drew more than 800 submissions from over 44 countries. Alongside the Special Award, five category awards were presented in Lisbon, each worth €10,000:
- Distinguished Reporting Award - "What the wounds are telling us" by Maud Effting and Willem Feenstra (De Volkskrant, the Netherlands)
- Innovation Award - "Mole or cancer? The algorithm that gets one in three melanomas wrong and erases patients with dark skin" by Ángela Bernardo, María Álvarez del Vayo, Carmen Torrecillas and Adrián Maqueda (Civio, Spain)
- Investigative Reporting Award - "The Brother D conspiracy" by Michael O'Farrell (The Irish Mail on Sunday, Ireland)
- Migration Journalism Award - "Unaccompanied children sleep on the floor in shifts in Greece's 'Model Camps'. The EU is aware" by a cross-border team publishing with Solomon (Greece), Republik (Switzerland) and WAV Recherchekollektiv (Switzerland)
- Public Discourse Award - "Not again!" by Kerstin Kohlenberg (DIE ZEIT, Germany)
More info here: europeanpressprize.com and www.europeanpressprize.com
