Serbia: Death threats against Tanjug journalists must be investigated

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), together with the SafeJournalists Network, stand in full solidarity with Tanjug journalists who have received death threats via email over their reporting from Kosovo and Albania, and call on the authorities to conduct an immediate investigation to initiate and bring the perpetrators to justice.

On September 30, Tanjug news agency media personnel received death threats via email to the news office. The author of the death threat email, who signed as “Tim Bahrdi,” stated that all Tanjug journalists who entered the Kosovo-Metohija region would be “shot in the back of the head” for their reporting on Kosovo and Albania.

“Just so you know, we are tracking the lies you spread every day about the state of Kosovo and Albanians, just as we are tracking the movements of every journalist from your pseudo media agency in Kosovo. “Be sure that one of them will get a bullet in the back of the head the next time he sets foot on the soil of the Republic of Kosovo,” the email said specified.

According to Dejan Ristić from the Ministry of Information, who immediately contacted the High-Tech Crime Department of the High Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, it was determined that the threat came from Albania.

“We are grateful to the Ministry of Information and the High-Tech Crime Department of the High Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade for identifying the source of the threat. The ministry has shown how it can respond in the shortest possible time and we expect the same.” Do the same in the future in similar cases, especially when threats come from an area where they exercise their authority. Journalists must feel protected and the right to move freely and do their work without fear of attacks must be guaranteed,” said the SafeJournalist Network.

“We strongly condemn the cruel death threats that Tanjug News Agency journalists have received. Journalists must be able to do their work, including in Kosovo, without fear of being “shot in the head”. Death threats against media professionals constitute an attack on media freedom and the public's right to information. It is vital to ensure a rapid and thorough investigation into the death threat to prevent perpetrators from repeating similar criminal behavior in the future.”said the IFJ-EFJ.

The death threats represent a serious attack on media freedom and endanger the safety of journalists who work in increasingly difficult conditions every day. According to the latest findings Monitoring the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR).There have been twelve cases of death threats against journalists since January, ten of them online. It is therefore crucial that relevant institutions show determination to protect media freedom. This starts with prosecuting the perpetrators of online threats that endanger the lives of journalists before they can escalate beyond the screen.

Signed by

The International Federation of Journalists

The European Association of Journalists

SafeJournalists Network

Association of Journalists of Kosovo

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

BH Journalists Association

Croatian Journalists Association

Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia

Media Union of Montenegro