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Feith Speaks Out Amid BIRN Kosovo Threats
Pristina | 04 June 2009 |
Pieter Feith
‘I have the highest regard for the programme and I welcome the scrutiny of my own activities that the ‘Life in Kosovo’ programme undertakes,’ Feith, the International Civilian Representative and the European Union’s Special Representative in Kosovo, wrote in a letter to BIRN’s governing body.
‘Freedom of expression, including in the media, is a central value of European Union integration. Deficiencies in this area have a direct impact on a prospective member’s progress towards the European institutions,’ he goes on to add.
Answering BIRN’s call to take action against these threats, Feith said he ‘will give further consideration to following up the points you make, including with the Government of Kosovo, in order to strengthen this important right of all citizens.’
Xharra is the director of BIRN Kosovo, which produces “Life in Kosovo,” aired weekly on public broadcaster RTK. Xharra also hosts this programme which dares to address controversial and even taboo topics.
But in the last week a campaign waged by pro-government press targeting the programme has led to front-page headlines on the Infopress tabloid newspaper, stating “Jeta Xharra is an Agent of the Serbian Secret Police,” and calling for the programme to be taken off the air.
“This is an explosive allegation in a society still traumatized by Serbian oppression and wartime atrocities, and is a clear incitement to acts of violence against our Kosovo staff,” said Xharra.
On Thursday, Infopress appeared to issue a death threat against Xharra, commenting: "Jeta has brought it upon herself to have a short life."
The situation intensified following the 28 May edition of the program, dedicated to freedom of the media in Kosovo. It discussed how government advertising is used to influence the media landscape and recent dismissals of journalists who inconvenienced the authorities.
It featured a video report in which the BIRN Kosovo news team was expelled from the Office for Public Information of the municipality of Skenderaj in the central Kosovo Drenica region, and forced to leave town by an armed man who confiscated their footage.
Infopress newspaper, which receives the lion’s share of government advertising revenues, has led the campaign with a series of inflammatory articles on Xharra and the programme, claiming they had set out to denigrate the Drenica region. Threatening emails followed, including death threats, and the newspaper itself published openly abusive and threatening letters from readers.
Xharra said: “We have nothing against Drenica. These are vicious and manipulative smears. On the contrary, our show has on several occasions dealt with the negligence of officials, which contributes to Drenica’s/Skenderaj continuous poverty.”
More details on this story, including downloads of the transcript and reports from the show, can be found here: Kosovo: Journalist Under Fire
Read Casey Cooper Johnson’s blog on the threats by Infopress against Xharra and the BIRN Kosovo team, here: The Free Speech Terrorists
2009-06-04 23:42:17