Kosovo: HRW Condemns Media Attack

Pristina | 09 June 2009 |

Jeta Xharra

The government of Kosovo should condemn threats and defend press freedom, Human Rights Watch said in a Monday press release, amidst a campaign against popular Kosovo journalist Jeta Xharra, the host of the weekly “Life in Kosovo” TV show.

“Kosovo's president and prime minister should forcefully condemn recent threats against the independent journalist Jeta Xharra in a newspaper that receives substantial advertising revenues from the government, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks are the latest indication that freedom of the media in Kosovo is coming under threat,” Human Rights Watch wrote in the press release.

The “Life in Kosovo” current affairs show hosted by Xharra and produced by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, sparked controversy on 28 May when 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 assaulted outside the culture house in Skenderaj and forced to leave the town by an unidentified armed man who confiscated their footage.

Since then, Xharra and BIRN have been labeled “spies” for Serbia and have received numerous threatening letters. In the sensitive post-war climate of Kosovo, such an accusation is extremely dangerous.

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.

An opinion piece published by the newspaper suggested that “Jeta has brought it upon herself to have a short life.”

And the attacks have continued.

"These attacks are clearly aimed at silencing the kind of journalism and investigative reporting that makes the government uncomfortable," said Wanda Troszczynska-van Genderen, Western Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The president and prime minister need to make clear that they don't want any part in this kind of behavior and that threats against journalists will be fully investigated."

"The political and financial supporters of the Kosovo government, especially the United States, should press the authorities to respect freedom of the media," Troszczynska-van Genderen continued. "Despite the public outcry, no one from the Kosovo government has spoken out about the unacceptable and dangerous threats against a journalist or the attacks on media freedom, let alone investigate the apparent assault on the BIRN journalists in Skenderaj."

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Comments:

HRW Condemns Media Attack
2009-06-09 12:59:47

After declaration of Kosovo independence 17th February 2008, prominent Serbian human rights activists Natasa Kandic attended the declaration of Independence in the Kosovo Assembly. On 19 February 2008, the Belgrade daily newspaper Novosti published a piece entitled â€œNatasa, the woman who does not existâ€œ, declaring that Natasa Kandic is a â€œnon-personâ€ and inciting its readers to the view that nothing would be lost by her â€œeliminationâ€. The Prishtina daily paper â€˜Infopressâ€™ appeared to issue a death threat against investigative journalist Jeta Xharra, commenting: "Jeta has brought it upon herself to have a short lifeâ€, after the show â€™Jeta ne Kosoveâ€™ sparked controversy on 28 May when it discussed how government advertising is used to influence the media landscape. Now, the question is not whether Jeta Xharra is a Serbian spy and for whom she works, but what both Kosovo and Serbian governments have in common? The government of Kosovo should condemn threats and defend press freedom, thus distance itself from daily â€˜Infopressâ€™. Otherwise, for both governments, the word â€˜democracyâ€™ remains just a desirable end goal.

Jeta cares about herself, not Kosove.
2009-06-09 16:36:14

So Nora, it's okay for Jeta to call KLA soliders names without any substantial proof but it's not okay for infopress to call her a spy? This is not about freedom of speech but an unprofessional journalist like JETA that has no respect for Kosovar society. I support her cause that we need freedom of speech, but i can't support Jeta's unprofessional work. I am insulted by her actions against KLA. Government can only condemn it, but will people do? She is threatening the lives of former KLA soldiers with biased serbian propaganda. How's that for a start?

2009-06-09 18:18:59

And for those who don't know, the highest act of patriotism is to be vigilant of the acts of your government. I, as a part of the public, I expect nothing less from Xharra or her colleagues but to perform the duties they have assumed when they decided to become journalists. Many in the Balkans have quite a perverted idea what journalism is. It is really ironic how those who always invoke patriotism when their backs are against the wall, are really the ones who could care less about the overall public's well-being. It is always either the extreme naive and uneducated who do it, or sleazy politicians who use it as means to achieve some political end. Infopress should perhaps look into the role Radio Television Libre des Milles Collines, a Hutu station, played with their propaganda, in the massacre against the Tutsis in Rwanda. Infopress should have called Xharra a "cockroach" for the parallel to have been exact. For crying out loud: stop tabloid media, stop telling us what to think, stop "deciding"! Journalists, just do your work! Report, give us facts, give us journalism, and stop assuming roles your profession does not allow.

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Kosovo: HRW Condemns Media Attack