The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) sent a letter to the Serbian List in Kosovo, demanding that they cease the continuous discrimination of media that report independently and professionally.
The most recent case happened when Nenad Djuric, director of the Regional Directorate of Police for the North region, addressed only selected media outlets – Kosovo Online and TV Most – regarding the decision on the registration of vehicles in Kosovo. Portal Kossev and other local media did not receive an invitation to the media address, which is not the first case of this kind.
In the past year, IJAS addressed the Serbian List twice considering that Kossev and other local media do not receive notifications about events and invitations to conferences organized by the Serbian List and institutions in the Serbian and Kosovo systems that are managed by the Serbian List personnel. However, we did not receive any response, nor did the situation improve.
When our colleagues from Kosovo tried to find out why they were not being notified, they were not provided with a concrete answer, but were instead asked the inappropriate counter-question “Ask yourself why they don’t inform you”, accompanied by the remark “To each according to his merit” by Mr. Goran Rakic, President of the Serbian List.
In the letter to the Serbian List, IJAS stated that it is possible discrimination and a selective approach in informing journalists that underpins this case. This makes the work of journalists more difficult and represents direct pressure on them and their newsrooms. We are again asking the representatives of the Serbian List to explain the reasons for the failure to notify the media.
While emphasising that discrimination against journalists, editors and the media on any basis is prohibited by the Law on Public Information and Media (Article 4), we are asking the representatives of the Serbian List to respect the laws and stop discriminating against the media.
