The Kossev portal announced yesterday that an employee in the Municipality of Severna Mitrovica, Fatima Staviljeci, pressured and threatened with the police the journalist of this media, Dragana Vukosavljević. The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) condemns the action of the municipal employee and calls on the competent institutions to investigate the case.
The journalist of the KoSSev portal Dragana Vukosavljević contacted the Civil Registry office employee of the municipality of Severna Mitrovica, Mrs. Staviljeci, in search of information about the suspension of registration of newborn children and deaths.
Staviljevic kindly shared the information she had, but referred the journalist to the ministry in Pristina, emphasizing that she was not authorized to provide additional details.
However, after the article was published, a phone call followed in which Staviljeci warned the journalist not to mention her name, requested that it be removed from the text, and threatened with the police and a lawsuit.
The editorial office of Kossev sent the Municipality of Severna Mitrovica a request for urgent answers regarding this case, but also the question of when local officials will stop with the established practice of ignoring the local media in the Serbian language. They did not receive an answer.
The authorities must investigate this case and prevent pressure and threats of abuse of institutions against journalists. We call on the Kosovo institutions to show that they respect democratic values and stop discriminating against the media in the Serbian language, as well as to enable the journalists of the KoSSev and all other newsrooms to work unhindered in the public interest of the citizens.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS),
Belgrade, March 19, 2025
