Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and Association of Journalists of Serbia in Kosovo condemned publishing of the text on RTK 1 and RTK 2 portals, which included the information about the private life of Sputnik journalist Brankica Ristic, and demanded apology as well as resignations of these portals’ editors, Radio KIM reported.

Both portals RTK 1 in Albanian and RTK 2 in Serbian published the information from the private life of Brankica Ristic about her alleged health state and family circumstances, linking it with claims about poor material status of journalists working for the Sputnik redaction.

UNS and UNS in Kosovo underlined that Kosovo public broadcaster by publishing this text, without the author’s signature and misusing the personal Facebook profile as a source of information, has breached the ethical and professional standards and in a scandalous manner overstepped the norms of decent behavior in informing the public. The two journalists’ associations also demanded reaction of the Independent Media Commission.

UNS and UNS in Kosovo added that RTK 1 and RTK 2 by publishing the text in which Brankica Ristic is insulted, also gravely violated her dignity by alluding “that she is known for slandering in her articles on Kosovo,” and therefore jeopardized her safety.

They also demanded that RTK Management Board publicly states who is responsible for editing the RTK 2 portal and what measures does it take to ensure editorial autonomy of a TV channel and a portal in the Serbian language.