IJAS and AJK condemned the ban on Serbian journalists entering the Zvecan municipality building

Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) with its branch, the Kosovo Journalist Association (AJK) condemned the ban on entry into the building of the Zvecan Municipality to journalists from Serbian newsrooms at the moment when members of the Kosovo Police invited journalists from the Albanian-language media to enter the municipal facility for security reasons.

As reported by IJAS, the editor of the Kosovo Online portal, Milos Garic, told IJAS that the explanation that the journalist of that media, Marija Trajkovic, had received from the police to leave the Zvecan municipality building because she was a Serb was scandalous in every sense.

Garic points out that the decision is particularly scandalous if one takes into account the fact that she entered the building together with a group of journalists from the Albanian-language media, who were allowed to stay in the building of the Municipality of Zvecan.

As colleagues from the scene reported to IJAS, journalists from the Albanian-language media had soon left the municipal building.

"By throwing the journalist out of the building, the special unit of the Kosovo Police today demonstrated in action how it enforces the law and with what discrimination it acts against the Serbs. We are asking for an urgent explanation from the Kosovo Police as to why they acted like that," Garic said.

He added that he was also asking all relevant institutions to react and to enable the journalists of Serbian-language media to work unhindered.

The KIM Radio news crew was denied entry to the municipal building after police officers saw the journalist's last name on her ID card.

"It is inadmissible to divide journalists based on surname and nationality. We insist that international and local organizations on the ground treat all journalists equally and provide them with the conditions for their work," Goran Avramovic, editor-in-chief of KIM Radio, said for IJAS.

IJAS and AJK point out that in crisis situations it is especially necessary to ensure safe work for journalists and media workers, and discrimination additionally creates a feeling of an unsafe environment.

IJAS and AJK demand that international security forces, above all members of KFOR and EULEX, protect journalists and enable them to work without discrimination.