Journalists protest in Serbian newsrooms against the order for the 'Jedinstvo' newspaper to vacate its premises in North Mitrovica

A protest against the eviction of the "Jedinstvo" editorial office from its premises in North Mitrovica was held today at 11 AM. During the event, Nino Brajovic, the General Secretary of UNS, and Rada Komazec, the chief editor of "Jedinstvo," stated that this is a severe form of endangerment to media freedom and the right to publish the only printed media in the territory of Kosovo - in this case, in the Serbian language.

"The 'Jedinstvo' editorial team was informed a week ago by someone named Ekrem Peci that he owns the premises without any documentation or administrative procedure, without any statements from any body or issuance of any decision that would potentially determine that the Jedinstvo editorial team is unlawfully using this space, with threats involving the police, specifically the ROSU special police. This is a serious incident that should concern everyone in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo and Metohija, in Pristina, and in Belgrade, and we will, of course, inform the European Federation of Journalists through our journalistic channels to stop this issue. The eviction of an editorial office without any documentation or any presentation of legal grounds that someone owns this space must be stopped. Thank you for responding in such numbers to truly present to the public the difficult situation in which the Jedinstvo editorial team in Kosovska Mitrovica has found itself," said Brajovic.

When asked whether the international community has responded to the fact that "Jedinstvo" is the only printed media and that there has long been no freedom of the media in Kosovo, Brajovic highlights that this is a very problematic situation.

"We have written about it; it is a phenomenon. This administrative territory is the only one in Europe without printed media in one language, specifically in Albanian. Fortunately, there is 'Jedinstvo', but now we are facing the persecution of 'Jedinstvo' from the premises where it operates and we are confronted with the fact that the distribution of Serbian print media is banned, which is also a unique case we have written about. Clearly, those who hold sway over human rights are not concerned," concluded Brajovic.

"We have just finished a meeting with the UN representative for human rights and informed him about everything happening to 'Jedinstvo' these days. A week ago, a lawyer representing Ekrem Peci appeared and ordered us to vacate the premises by the end of today. 'Jedinstvo' is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. In June 1999, or rather November 1999, we were expelled from our premises in Pristina because the journalists stayed longer with KFOR security. Since then, we have been here in the northern part, namely in Kosovska Mitrovica. We received our work premises from the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija," explained Komazec.

She adds that the Coordination Centre then purchased the premises from a private individual.

"After that, a man without any papers appears. So, we did not even receive a paper saying, here, vacate, I am the owner, but we only received a notice from his lawyer that we have to move out, that they had bought it from the Kosovo Agency for Privatization. Also, I find it very important to note that all our property in Pristina has been usurped. Here, I have evidence of everything that is ours," said Komazec.

Then she specified which premises she was referring to.

"In Dardania, now Bill Clinton Street, we have about 300 square meters purchased by the journalists of Jedinstvo and employees with their own funds, all of which has been usurped. We have written, reached out since 2005-2006 to UNMIK, later to agencies, and all institutions, but we encountered only silence from the institutions in Pristina. We requested that part of the premises be freed so that we could return to Pristina. Additionally, the Press House where we stayed and worked has been completely usurped and is now occupied by the Government of Kosovo," emphasized the editor of "Jedinstvo".

She also mentioned that Jedinstvo’s printing facilities had been usurped.

"Our printing house, next to the Press House, has been usurped. Another printing house was under construction in Kosovo Polje, which has also been usurped. Our bookstores, kiosks, all have been stolen and usurped. On this occasion, as much as UNMIK has jurisdiction, we informed Mr. Janis and asked him if he could do something, as we want to return to our headquarters in Pristina. Regarding the gentleman who claims to be the owner, today we are waiting, it is uncertain what will happen, we can only hold meetings in front of the building, we have nowhere to go, this is the second persecution of 'Jedinstvo' in 25 years," emphasized Komazec. When asked if there is an alternative solution, Komazec said they do not have one and can only work under the open sky. On the other hand, from the UNMIK representative with whom they had a meeting, they received assurances that all claims would be checked. She added that they had sent about ten letters to the Kosovo Privatization Agency, but there has been no response. On the other hand, the person claiming to be the new owner threatened them with arrest, saying he would bring in the Special Police.

"He even said he would seek rent, claiming he bought it ten years ago and that we must pay him for the previous years as well, despite showing us no documents. It's a terrible feeling to be persecuted twice. It is very difficult. It's ethnic cleansing, depriving the Serbian people of language, script, and information. We must endure to see what we can do next," stressed the editor of Jedinstvo.