Kosovo: RSF seeks protection for broadcasting chief after attack, threat
| Publisher | Reporters Without Borders |
| Publication Date | 30 August 2016 |
| Cite as | Reporters Without Borders, Kosovo: RSF seeks protection for broadcasting chief after attack, threat, 30 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57c6d36a4.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Comments | All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a bomb attack on the home of Mentor
Shala, the head of public radio and TV broadcaster RTK - the second attack of this
kind targeting RTK in less than a week - and calls on the Kosovar authorities to
protect Shala, who has also been threatened.
The bomb was set off outside Shala's home on the evening of 28 August, just six days
after a grenade was thrown into the courtyard of RTK headquarters in downtown
Pristina. Neither explosion caused any injuries.
The attack was claimed in short message to the media by a hitherto unknown group
calling itself "Rugovasit," which accused Shala of supporting the Kosovar
government's proposal to cede 80 square kilometres of territory to Montenegro in a
proposed redrawing of the border between the two countries.
Kosovo's parliament is due to vote on 1 September on the proposal, which was
drafted after months of tension with Montenegro since the autumn of 2015.
"Rugovasit" gets its name from the Rugovo Mountains along the border
In its communiqué, the group called for the proposal's withdrawal, described the
bombing as a warning and said Shala's life would be in danger he did not stand
down as RTK's director-general.
"We firmly condemn the use of threats against a media executive," said Pauline
Adès-Mével, the head of RSF's Europe-Balkans desk. "Opposition to this proposal
and the way the state-owned broadcaster has covered the negotiations cannot
constitute grounds for acts of violence and physical threats against journalists. We
urge the authorities to conduct an investigation and to protect Shala."
Kosovo is ranked 90th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom
Index.
