Kosovo: Campaign against Journalist Continues

The campaign waged against BIRN Kosovo’s Jeta në Kosove show went into a sixth day on Friday with two editorials in the Kosovar press slamming the work of its presenter Jeta Xharra.

In two pieces penned for the newspaper Infopress, which has led the attacks on one of Kosovo’s most popular current affairs show, Xharra’s and RTK, which broadcasts the programme, are severely criticised for a recent debate on press freedom.

In one piece, Ramiz Sala equates “Jeta Xharra and BIRN” to the UDB, the Serbian secret service.
 
In another article, Ilir Gashi writes: “RTK, with its mission Jeta në Kosovë, truly is the biggest after-war offence done to this territory.”
 
The show, which sparked controversy last Thursday, 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.
 
On Thursday, Infopress appeared to issue a death threat against Xharra, commenting: "Jeta has brought it upon herself to have a short life."

Non-governmental organisations have raised concerns about freedom of speech in Kosovo in an open letter in response to a campaign against Jeta Xharra.
 
In the open letter, released on June 4, nine NGOs and dozens of individuals expressed concern over the intensifying campaign against Xharra.

Regarding the attacks on Xharra, the NGOs wrote: “The increasingly common practice of Infopress asserting that particular individuals are ‘Serb spies’ is becoming a disturbing issue.”
 
The international community’s top envoy in Kosovo, Pieter Feith, and the EU’s External Relations Committee office in Pristina, RELEX Kosovo, have defended the show and press freedom in recent days.

Download transcript of Skenderaj Tv debate
Download Infopress articles