The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) a network of local non-governmental organisations promoting freedom of speech, human rights, and democratic values was sued by businessman Mirel Mertiri. The lawsuit came after BIRN published an article about incinerators and Mertiri’s links with an incinerator monopoly. Martiri claims that the article contains insulting allusions and labels about corruption, which have denigrated the figure and damaged his personal, family, social, and property life.