Rakocevic: Von Cramon's statement - pressure to launch an investigation into missing and murdered journalists

The president of the Association of Journalists of Serbia, Zivojin Rakocevic, said that the statement of Viola von Cramon about the missing and murdered journalists was an important sign, and represented pressure to open those processes and to finally start the investigation of those crimes, and reminded that seven Serbs and seven Albanians had been killed or disappeared. and three German journalists.

Rakocevic stated for Kosovo Online that the Association of Journalists of Serbia had been warning for more than a decade and a half about the fact that "the area of Kosovo and Metohija is one of the territories that is at the very top of the world in terms of the number of murdered, kidnapped and missing journalists".

"Decades of research, meetings, protests, and demands ended with empty promises and silence. Our colleague from IJAS, Jelena Petkovic, did the best research of all cases and shed light on the tragic fates of our colleagues with the greatest care," Rakocevic said.

He reminded that the Association of Serbian Journalists had erected a memorial plaque nine times at the site of the kidnapping of RTV Pristina journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic as a reminder that the crime would never be forgotten.

"Among the international representatives, only the head of the OSCE, Jan Bratu, had a deep understanding of this tragic process that everyone wants to forget, and without its solution, there is no reconciliation and the beginning of building democratic institutions. Viola von Cramon's statement is an important sign and signal, as well as pressure to those processes, open the way for the investigation of these crimes to finally begin," Rakocevic added.

Rakocevic pointed out that seven Serbian, seven Albanian, and three German journalists from the Stern newspaper had been killed or missing.

"They all died as innocent victims and must not be forgotten for the sake of the future of all of us," Rakocevic concluded.