Attack on Journalism and Free Speech in Kosovo
In 1998-1999 there was a war and massacre in Kosovo that was primarily overland but arguably an attempt of ethnic cleansing by Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic. Since then tensions between Kosovars and Serbians have been mounting over a land dispute. Not to mention the understandable resentment that Kosovar has against the Serbian government for the absolute atrocities committed against their people. In October 2020, a Kosovar investigative journalist by the name of Shkumbin Kajtazi was subject to an act of violence. While he was in his personal residence at around 12 am, shots were fired and his vehicle was struck several times resulting in a broken passenger side window and multiple bullets struck the interior of the car as well. This attack was committed in Mitrovica, which is a city in Kosovo that has a mixed population of Serbians and Kosovars. This was not the first attack on the journalist. Earlier that year there was also attempted arson on his vehicle as well. It is under investigation and while no charges were yet filed, the motif is expected to be the fact that Kajtazi criticized the president of Serbia over a land dispute. The prime minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti had this to say about the situation, “Attacks on journalists and media are direct attacks on democratic values. Therefore, they will be treated with priority by law enforcement agencies.” (Abazi, 2020)
In this published article that I read, the writer used history and pictures to outline the entanglement that the situation has with the history of Kosovo and quotations to show the Kosovar government’s positions on the attacks against freedom of the press in their country.
(1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 288 words)
Abazi, Besim. “ Bullets Shatter Window of Journalist’s Car in Kosovo.” VOA. October 21, 2020. Bullets Shatter Window of Journalist's Car in Kosovo | Voice of America - English (voanews.com)
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