Vienna, 26/09/2006
To: Kole Berisha
President of the Assembly of Kosovo
Pristina, Kosovo
Your Excellency,
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe, and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), expresses its deep concern over the attack on a journalist working for the Prisitna-based Lajm daily.
According to information before SEEMO, on 14 September reporter Enis Veliu from the Kosovo daily Lajm was allegedly assaulted by Muhamet Berisha, a security member of the Kosovo Assembly. The incident happened while Veliu was waiting to meet the member of the parliament Bajrush Xhemaili at the Assembly’s restaurant. Prior the meeting, Veliu had presented a valid regular journalists visitors ID.
SEEMO was further informed that Veliu wanted to report the incident to the police, but at the police station he was advised to forgive the perpetrator.
SEEMO strongly condemns this attack on the journalist and urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to investigate this case, as well as to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. We would like to remind Your Excellency that it is crucial for journalists to do their job freely and that independent media are vital for the democratic development of any society.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General