In an open letter to Kosovo police Director-General Rashti Qalaj, the Belgrade based weekly Vreme demanded urgent investigation of the fire at the Jarinje border crossing with Serbia proper which destroyed a car the weekly used while visiting Kosovo, the FoNet news agency reported on Wednesday.
A reporter of “Le Courrier des Balkans” joined Vreme’s crew on its way back to Belgrade.
The fire broke out suddenly late on January 4. All passengers escaped unharmed while the car was destroyed.
The journalists were coming back from the northern part of the divided Mitrovica town mostly populated by the Serbs with tight links to Belgrade, after an interview with a local Serb colleague.
The weekly is known as an open critic of President Aleksandar Vucic’s regime.
Local police took statements from Vreme reporters and concluded it was not an arson.
The weekly added its staff did not know what caused the fire but considered the local police probe “unacceptable and dangerous.”
In the letter, Vreme requested that the police investigate security cameras recordings, conduct forensic investigation and other acts police were supposed to take.
