Office for Kosovo and Metohija: We demand that those responsible for the abduction of Slavuj and Perenic be found and punished

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija today called, on the 28th anniversary of the abduction of Radio Pristina journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic, for those responsible for the crime to be found and punished so that justice can be served.

“Today marks 28 years since the abduction of Radio Pristina journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic. As we have done every year, we demand that those responsible for this crime be found and punished so that justice can be served and the families of the abducted can be given some measure of comfort. Slavuj and Perenic are not the only journalists who disappeared or lost their lives under unresolved circumstances during the conflict in Kosovo and Metohija, but they have become a symbol of the suffering of innocent people and the impunity of those responsible,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said.

It also pointed out that journalists working in the Serbian language in Kosovo continue to face obstruction of their work and pressure.

“Unfortunately, the political and security climate in which journalists working and reporting in the Serbian language in Kosovo and Metohija operate today is marked by discrimination, bans, obstruction of their work, and pressure, while media workers are subjected to identity checks and punished in full view of the international community, simply because they conscientiously and responsibly want to report the truth about how the Serbian people live in Kosovo and Metohija today,” the statement said.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija recalled that this year the memorial plaque at the site of Slavuj and Perenic's abduction was destroyed for the ninth time.

“The fact that the competent authorities are unwilling or unable even to prosecute the vandals is evidence of the ideology of hatred that is still being cultivated among separatists in Kosovo and Metohija. We recall that since 2012, when the memorial plaque was first erected, only one person responsible for desecrating it has ever been detained, and although that person admitted guilt, they received a suspended sentence and a symbolic fine. This sent a message to all those who fuel hatred and prevent the dignified remembrance of the victims that they can continue doing so without any fear or consequences,” the statement concluded.

On August 21, 1998, Slavuj and Perenic set out for the Monastery of the Holy Healers in Zociste to prepare a report on the return of abducted monks. However, when they headed from Velika Hoca toward Zociste, they took a wrong turn that led them to members of the KLA. From that moment, all trace of them was lost, and to this day their families and colleagues have received no official information about their fate.