PRISTINA, 25.12.2018 – Threats and attacks coming from politics and business groups are part of the daily work of journalists in Kosovo. In 2018 only, there are 16 cases of threats or attacks against them. The last one was against the journalist of “Koha Ditore” newspaper, Agim Ademi, who was threatened by an official of Lipjan Municipality. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) condemned the threat and the offensive language used against the journalist, who has stated that this is not the only case when he has faced pressure and threats during his work.
Even that, comparing with 2017, there are less threats and attacks against journalists reported this year, the number of these cases still worries AJK. According to this association, during 2017 there were reported 24 cases of threats and attacks against journalists.
To help journalists, starting from the last year, AJK has reached several agreements of cooperation with the Kosovo Police and State Prosecutor.
The President of AJK, Gentiana Begolli-Pustina says that the state security institutions are doing a good work in order to improve the mechanisms for protecting journalists. As an achievement, she mentions the appointment of a coordinator from Prishtina Court, who is in charge with journalists’ cases. According to Begolli-Pustina, with the Police of Kosovo, AJK has signed agreement for cases of attacks and threats against journalists, in order that these cases to be filed directly to the Serious Crimes Prosecution Department.
“AJK encourages the Kosovo Police to extend their investigations on some journalists’ cases because we, as AJK, want to see more concrete results regarding the cases of threats against journalists. The Judicial System has poor performance on the cases of journalists, same as it is with the other cases. However, from the current coordination that has started from the last year, it is appointed a coordinator from the Court who is in charge of these cases, and if nothing else, at least we have a place where we can address our concerns”, says Begolli-Pustina.
“There is no doubt that, until now, there is a good work done by the institutions on proceeding these cases. Nevertheless, as I mentioned before, from the relevant institutions we want faster results on the cases that include threats against journalists”, she adds.
Besim Kelmendi, Coordinator at the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor for cases of journalists, believes that the cooperation of State Prosecution with AJK has encouraged the journalists to report cases of attacks and threats.
According to Kelmendi, State Prosecution gives priority to these cases because crimes against journalists are included in the chapter of crimes against human life.
“I consider that there are some positive changes in this regard, because until late, journalists have hesitated to report these cases because they didn’t trust the Judicial system. But from the time we have been appointed as Coordinators and thanks to the close cooperation with the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, but also with the journalists who are victims of these threats or other cases against them, they have started to cooperate more with us. We are in contact with them whenever there is any threat against them”, says Kelmendi.
“Because crimes against journalists are crimes against life and are included in the chapter of crimes against human life, they have priority. We demand from the persecutors that these cases to be treated with urgency. Thanks to the chapter that they are part of, they have priority”, adds Kelmendi. According to him, there are 10 cases filed at the Police and State Prosecutor this year.
“At the State Prosecutor office and Police there are 10 cases filed. There is chance that some of the journalists haven’t filed their cases and because of this, there is a difference between the number of cases filed to these institutions and those reported by AJK”, he says.
The Kosovo Police (KP) officials say that in their work to protect free expression of journalists, they increased their capacities in order to give priority to the cases of threats and attacks against journalists, in preventing and preceding these cases. In a response by KP press office, there are listed the actions that this institution takes, in order to treat these cases as fast as possible.
“Regarding the treatment of journalists’ cases, we inform you that KP has increased capacities and has given priority to these cases in order to prevent them, but also in proceeding them. For this reason, KP has decided that all of these cases to be investigated and to be coordinated at the central level and at the respective directorate for investigation; cases to be investigated Ex Officio by KP, from each report we receive; the case to be directed to the respective Prosecutor office with Criminal Charge, and all of the activities to be coordinated with the competent Prosecutor office, starting from the occurrence or when the case is filed; all of the physical security measures for the victim to be carried out etc. Meanwhile, all of the formal proceedings to be taken for the suspected (known or unknown), whenever or whoever he might be”, says the written response of Kosovo Police.
On the other hand, Begolli-Pustina says that besides the attacks and threats, journalists feel under pressure also from the censure that they face from their editorial offices which, as a consequence brings lack of proper freedom in doing their work. According to her, in this case, the problem is the poor conditions on which journalists work, including low salaries.
“We have journalists that continue to work for years with a salary starting from 200 or 300 Euros per month”, she says.
She adds that the overall working conditions of journalists are not satisfying, even though comparing with the past, it is encouraging that during this year in several cases, journalists have denounced the salary payment delays and other types of workplace discriminations. She says that this is a positive sign which tells the journalists are becoming more aware of these problems.
“However, we are not satisfied. We are part of this community, and we know exactly the problems that they face”, says Begolli-Pustina.
For some of the cases of threats that occurred in 2018, formal procedures are initiated by the Court, and AJK is continuingly in contact with judicial institutions in order to give help to journalists.
Author: Jehona Gjinovci
This article is a production of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo under the project “Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists Safety”, funded by the European Union. The content of this publication can in no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.