On the evening of 14 July 2024, an incident occurred on the main bridge over the river Ibar (Ibër) in Kosovska Mitrovica (Mitrovicë), Kosovo. The river Ibar divides the city and its inhabitants. The southern side is predominantly home to ethnic Albanians, while the north side is predominantly home to ethnic Serbs. Around 9 PM, a visibly intoxicated allegedly Albanian man attacked journalists Biljana Radomirović from Politika daily( https://www.politika.rs/) from Belgrade and Zoran Vlašković from “Jedinstvo”(https://jedinstvo.rs/). All happened without any provocation from the journalists, when the person was throwing a beer bottle at them while they were reporting.
Biljana Radomirović sustained minor injuries to her leg from the incident. The rapid intervention of Italian Carabinieri, who are part of the international mission, helped treat her injuries quickly. Despite the insistence of the Carabinieri, Radomirović and Vlašković initially refused to call the Kosovo police. However, a police patrol arrived shortly afterward, summoned by the Carabinieri. Emergency medical services from the Clinical Hospital Center (Kliničko Bolnički Centar – KBC) Kosovska Mitrovica (Mitrovicë) also arrived on the scene to provide further medical attention, though Radomirović declined to go to the hospital.
Radomirović explained that the attacker, already known to the police, quickly fled towards the southern part of the city after the attack. She also noted that she refused to give a statement at the Northern police station or press charges against the attacker.
The Kosovo police have assured that they will take all necessary measures in collaboration with the Southern police station to apprehend the attacker.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the attack on journalists Biljana Radomirović and Zoran Vlašković in Kosovska Mitrovica (Mitrovicë), Kosovo. Such acts of violence against media professionals are unacceptable. SEEMO demands that the perpetrator be held accountable and assures that it will closely monitor the progress of this case to ensure justice is served.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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