The editorial office of the newspaper Bota Sot has informed AJK about a phone call that its editor-in-chief says he received on Sunday night.

According to this online newspaper, Idriz Morina, has received a phone call with threatening messages to him and his family because of his writings. Morina has notified the Police about this threat, and after that the Kosovo Police has started the investigative procedures.

AJK condemns this threat, and calls upon the Kosovo Police to treat it with priority.

PODGORICA, 22.11.2021 – Montenegrin journalists work under constant pressure, as evidenced by recent events. As many as four journalists have been exposed to various threats and pressures over the past seven days, solely for doing their job.

The Trade Union of Media of Montenegro strongly condemns all types of pressure on the work of journalists, regardless of whether they come from politicians, public figures or citizens. Our colleagues must be able to do their job freely and without fear.

Journalists Vuk Vujisic and Borko Zdero were recently targeted by citizens for reporting on gravel exploitation on Moraca, while journalist Nikoleta Rakocevic was verbally attacked in Mojkovac, again for media coverage of pre-election activities in the town. Journalist Nenad Zecevic was called to testify in the Higher Prosecutor’s Office for writing about the security sector, which can be experienced as pressure due to disagreement with reporting.

In the course of 2021 so far, as many as 25 attacks, threats and pressure on journalists have been registered, which is an absolute record of the number of incidents and another indicator that media workers in Montenegro work under constant risk of attacks, threats and pressure.

We believe that the announced changes to the Criminal Code in the part of strengthening criminal legal protection are absolutely necessary and we appeal to the competent institutions and deputies to adopt them as soon as possible. In addition, it is necessary to work on a comprehensive risk analysis of the work of journalists with clear countermeasures to reduce and combat it, which will be the focus of the work of the Trade Union, in cooperation with relevant institutions and partners, in the coming period.

PODGORICA, 19.11.2021 – More than six years have passed since the arrest of investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic and the beginning of the court saga in which he spent more than 14 months in detention, received one conviction and then a disputed verdict, and is currently awaiting a Supreme Court decision on a re-conviction.

Martinovic explained for the “SafeJournalists.net” that on the occasion of the verdict of the Court of Appeals from March this year (which confirmed the conviction of the High Court in Podgorica), he submitted a request for protection of legality, as an extraordinary legal remedy. By the verdict of the Podgorica High Court, Martinovic was sentenced to one year in prison for alleged drug smuggling.

“I first submitted the request for protection of legality to the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, which routinely rejected it without reading it. I appealed the decision to the Supreme Court in early June and have been waiting for an answer ever since. I don’t know what to expect. The acting judge will decide on the basis of the law and the facts, or he will follow the instructions of Djukanovic’s party”, Martinovic said.

He recalled that the request was based on three disputed facts in the proceedings before the High Court presided over by Judge Vesna Pean.

“Ms. Vesna Pean was illegally appointed to preside over the Trial Chamber by the High Court because, as a judge who participated in the investigative phase of the proceedings against me, she had to be excluded from further proceedings by law. As such, Ms. Pean was biased during the trial, to which I gave a few examples, and I believe she acted more as an official of Djukanovic’s party than as a judge. Also, the cooperating witness illegally received that status and testified in exchange for the forgiveness of the crime, not against the head of the criminal organization, but against me, who was charged with a much lower degree of guilt than his”, said Martinovic.

He does not see the end of that process.

“Even if my appeal to the Supreme Court succeeds, then the procedure would only return to the beginning,” Martinovic said.

If he also receives a negative answer from the Supreme Court, Martinovic announces an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

“In the practice of the Constitutional Court, there are already several judgments upholding appeals on the same grounds as mine, so I think it will be very difficult for the current judgment to pass the Constitutional Court. Ultimately, I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights as a last resort”, he said.

He tells journalists who find themselves in a similar situation that the most important thing is to do their job professionally, ethically and to put the truth above everything.

“A clear conscience is the greatest capital that helps to get through all adversity. In any case, I would not want anyone, including party judges, prosecutors and their clients, to go through the same or similar as I did”, he added.

There is a lot of room for improving the position of journalists in Montenegro. The conditions for the work of journalists, he believes, have not changed much since the election of the new government in December last year.

“In fact, we now have more dual power than the new government. The prosecution, the judiciary and significant parts of the security services are still in the hands of the old regime and the president, so these are all limiting factors in journalistic work. Most journalists still work under eavesdropping, surveillance and are attacked at any time. That is why some of them still have self-censorship when they see that no previous attack on journalists has been resolved. I am afraid it will remain so until there is a broader social consensus and action to improve the situation”,  Martinovic concluded.

Kosovo Police initially obstructed and then fined Klan Kosova team, who went to the scene to report live about the armed robbery on the Prishtina-Gjilan district.

Journalist Flamur Gajtani, cameraman Arben Kajtazi and the driver Gazmend Salihu, were stopped and then fined for trying to take an alternative route to the scene.

Kosovo Police has also fined RTV Dukagjini team, journalist Mehmet Krasniqi and the cameraman Visar Kryeziu. This road was allowed to be used by other citizens, but not by these TV crews.

AJK condemns the obstruction of these teams, and calls upon the Kosovo Police to help journalists, and not obstruct their work.

SARAJEVO, November 12, 2021 – Are the requests for deleting articles, which are increasingly arriving at the addresses of the newsrooms in BiH, in fact post-festum censorship and the attempt to “rewrite history”, and why denials often turn into polemics with journalists were the main topics of a panel discussion held today in Sarajevo, organized by the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BIH).

According to organizers Leila Bicakcic, director of CIN, and Denis Dzidic, director of BIRN BiH, we have recently witnessed the emergence of trends that change the traditional approach to journalism, which are manifested, among other things, in the emergence of new media and new forms of reporting. At the same time, new forms of pressure on the media are emerging, which threaten to significantly disrupt the already poor position of independent and professional journalism.

Very often, due to insufficiently defined or partial interpretation of the applicable legal framework, the media are asked to remove the content and publish various forms of denial that threaten to severely restrict freedom of expression and freedom of the media.

“In the public space of BiH, the so-called shrinking space or narrowing the space within the media content is present even when it comes to presenting true and verified information, but the one which harms a certain center of power”, said prof. dr. Lejla Turcilo from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo.

She reminded that according to the Law on Protection against Defamation, it is possible to request the deletion of certain contents from the media, but only in case that certain allegations are untrue and incorrect.

“However, if the requests for deleting texts become a mass phenomenon, in 20-30 years it will not be possible to find any data in the media archives about the numerous events that are happening now in our society”, warned professor Turcilo.

Lawyer and expert in constitutional law prof. dr. Nedim Ademovic believes that the requests for deleting facts from the media archives are legally unfounded.

“There is no legal norm that allows such a thing. However, we need to consider whether there is a circumstance that would justify such a request based on the protection of the right to privacy, which includes the right to a person’s reputation. I don’t think history can damage a person’s honor and reputation, except in cases where the media selectively tries to disavow the public and create the wrong image – for example, if you just write about someone being accused of a crime or being tried, but not that he was acquitted of the charges”, says Ademovic.

Lawyer Vlado Adamovic thinks the right to be forgotten must also be respected.

“The consequences of human mistakes in life must have an end because they also have an end in the legal sense”, said Adamovic.

Participants in the discussion concluded that the unprofessional approach of some media and journalists greatly generates demands for denials and deletion of the content and that by respecting ethical standards and professional codes of journalism, such bad practices could be avoided.

The European Federation of Journalists – EFJ, has reacted to the statements of Hysamedin Feraj that “AJK is a dangerous organization for the state and that it is working against the values of European journalism”.

“It is totally irresponsible to publicly promote hate and point fingers at journalists like this. We condemn the shameful behavior and back AJK and their important work for journalists in Kosovo”.

On Tuesday, Feraj in a statement to the media said that AJK is a dangerous organization for the society and the state of Kosovo, but above all for its citizens, because according to him, AJK has defended and continues to defend a lynching propaganda that journalists do.

Dafina Halili – journalist, lectured in front of AAB students regarding the topic on reporting on Occupational Safety and Health issues. This training is organized by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo in cooperation with UN Women.

Similar trainings and other activities related to the topic will be organized during the month of November, within the framework of the project “Promoting Decent Work through Strengthening of OSH Management and Social Dialogue in Kosovo,” which is implemented by UNOPS Kosovo and funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through the Embassy of Sweden in Pristina.