PRISTINA, 02.04.2020 – Association of Journalists of Kosovo voices it’s concern about the dismissal of more than 20 of our colleagues, who worked for years in Zëri Newspaper.
Among the 20 dismissed were three journalists and one editor, and according to the reports of our colleagues, two of the journalists are pregnant.
Moreover, they were informed about the discontinuation of their employment with an email from the director of the media outlet, Shpend Dobranja, without respecting the timeframe that is in place with the Law on Labor.
On the letter directed to AJK, a journalist stated that “the rule of 15-day notice has not been respected, we were notified on 31 of March, while some of our workers were notified on 1st of April while they were working. It is more concerning that two of the journalists are pregnant, which is a violation of the law”.
In the email to the workers, Mr. Dobranja justifies his decision to dismiss the staff by saying that in the last couple of month Zëri Newspaper has faced financial difficulties due to the low revenues from advertisement and low newspaper sales.
AJK considers that the dismissal is a gross violation of worker’s rights and at the same time further aggravates the fragile working environment of journalists in Kosovo.
AJK will seek accountability from the Director of Zëri Newspaper about the legal procedures that were followed and calls on the Labor Inspectorate to investigate these cases urgently.
We will follow closely these cases and will notify the national and international mechanisms about this case, which according to AJK is unacceptable and a violation.
AJK appeals to media executives not to commit such legal violations and to treat our colleagues with dignity, given that they are at the front-line reporting on the pandemic, even endangering themselves. Considering the working environment that journalists are facing in Kosovo, specifically during the time of the pandemic, AJK has for the third time today asked for clarification from the Ministry of Finance and Transfers, to request to know if journalists will be included in the Emergency Fiscal Package of Kosovo’s Government.