Following their meeting in Kosovo Polje/Fushë Kosovë, the Minister for Communities and Return Dalibor Jevtic and the head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Jean-Claude Schlumberger have both requested the case of two missing Serbian journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perinic to be resolved.
Dalibor Jevtic stressed that building of mutual trust between citizens and institutions is not possible unless the light is not shed on crimes committed in Kosovo. On the occasion of 16 anniversary after journalists Slavuj and Perinic went missing in Orahovac/Rahovec Municipality Jevtic said that media have important role in the society and that media workers must be protected.
“Finding perpetrators or answers on what happened with missing journalists 16 years ago is something that will contribute not only to justice and truth, but to protection of journalists’ profession,” said Jevtic.
Head of the OSCE in Mission in Kosovo Jean-Claude Schlumberger said that it is important that the light is shed on destiny of the missing journalists and condemned any sort of attacks on media freedom.
“Journalists’ profession deserves big respect. It is sad that nothing is known about them 16 years after. Such crimes, unfortunately, are taking place all over the world, yesterday a journalist was killed in Iraq, what is also very sad,” said Schlumberger.
Jevtic also announced a regional conference of representatives of governments of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo, which is due to take place in early September, aiming at finding lasting solution for internally displaced persons.
Jevtic said that courts in Kosovo should work faster in cases of usurped property in order that displaced could return to their properties and added that he expects from police better protection of the returnees’ property, since property safety is a precondition for their sustainable return.
