Refworld Case Law Collection Survey
RSF urges Kosovar authorities to protect journalist after death threats
| Publisher | Reporters Without Borders |
| Publication Date | 27 October 2016 |
| Cite as | Reporters Without Borders, RSF urges Kosovar authorities to protect journalist after death threats, 27 October 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5825f02e4.html [accessed 30 December 2016] |
| 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 the death threats, insults and baseless accusations that have been levelled against Leonard Kerquki, the editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Express website, since a documentary he directed was premiered on the site on 23 October.
The documentary, for which Kerquki also did the voiceover, addresses a rarely discussed aspect of the Kosovo War of 1998-2000 - atrocities against Serbian and Bosniak minorities.
The day after it was screened, a photomontage of Kerquki with his forehead riddled by bullet holes in Serbian colours was posted on the Facebook page of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), a paramilitary group that opposed the Serbs during the war.
The UCK is accused in the documentary of carrying out war crimes against civilians in the name of Kosovar patriotism.
"We condemn this public lynching of Leonard Kerquki and we call on the authorities to quickly adopt measures to protect this journalist and his colleagues," RSF programme director Lucie Morillon said. "We also call for an investigation with aim of identifying those responsible for these threats and bringing them to trial."
The documentary was the second in a new series of documentaries and investigative reports about Kosovo's contemporary history recently launched by Gazeta Express, an Albanian-language news portal.
Kosovo is ranked 90th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
