May 31, 2023

31.05.2023 – Attacks on Journalists in Notrhern Kosovo Must Stop

Albanian media company Top Channel from Tirana. A vehicle belonging to the TV Syri team was hit by bullets. In the same town journalists from KOHA from Pristina and Top Channel from Tirana were attacked. Additional a team of the media company Periskopi was attacked and the shirt of one crew-member was torn as a result of the attempted assault.

Finally, three masked individuals knocked down the camera of Gazeta Papirus while they were filming vehicles belonging to the NATO-led international peacekeeping Kosovo Force (KFOR).

There was also an incident in the Municipality of Zubin Potok involving the vehicle of media outlet Tëvë1. The vehicle was vandalized and later set on fire. Images reveal broken windows, punctured tires, and the vehicle engulfed in flames.

According to Serbian sources, Serbian media journalists working for Kosovo online media outlets and Radio KIM were banned from entering the building of the Zveçan / Zvečan Municipality. This happened while Kosovo Police officers invited Albanian-language media journalists to enter the premises for their safety.

During the protests in Zvečan, as they were reporting from the protests inside a group of Kosovo-Serbs who came in conflict with Kosovo-Albanians and KFOR, cameramen from two Belgrade TV channels were attacked and the local correspondent of the Belgrade news agency Tanjug got a minor injury.

#fyp #mediafreedom #seemo #freespeech#southeasteuropemediaorganisation #ngo