The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) marked the 21st anniversary of the abduction of two Radio Pristina journalists with a demand to EULEX, UNMIK and war crime prosecutors in Serbia and Kosovo to renew their investigations into the murders and abductions of journalists and media staff in Kosovo.
Shaban Berisha (47) received three-month suspended sentence and EUR 200 fine over demolishing the memorial plaque dedicated to the missing journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Penezic, while ethnic motives were excluded from the verdict, Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) said in a statement.
The verdict made by the Basic Court in Djakovica is not given to us yet, so it remains unclear if the prosecution gave up on the qualification of a criminal act as ethnically motivated, although the suspected person admitted it was a reason to demolish the plaque, UNS added.
Members of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and its branch in Kosovo (DNKiM) accompanied by Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jan Braathu placed on Friday a memorial plaque dedicated to their missing colleagues, Radio Pristina journalists, Djura Slavuj and Ranko Perenic for the eighth time, KoSSev portal reports.
The memorial plaque was placed where the two journalists were last seen in August 1998 in the village of Zociste, near Velika Hoca.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo commends Kosovo Police for identifying the perpetrator of the latest act of vandalism on the memorial plaque of journalis
A suspect, Shaban Berisha (47) confessed he eradicated by an excavator, a memorial plaque dedicated to the missing journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic, on 30 January 2019, Djakovica police report said. The report also said the act was “ethnically motivated,” Radio KIM reports.
“The police carried out an investigation on 4 February 2019 and discovered that the plaque was intentionally removed by an excavator and thrown away 20 meters from the spot, it was placed (…). The suspect and an excavator have been identified,” police report added.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo condemns the latest act of vandalism on the memorial plaque of journalists Đuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenić in Velika Hoca/Hoçë e Madhe in Rahovec/Orahovac.
In June 2018, together with the Association of Journalists of Serbia registered in Kosovo and a group of journalists, the OSCE Mission participated in a ceremony to unveil the memorial plaque commemorating the two journalists that went missing in 1998 and were last seen on that site. saddened to read that the plaque has been removed and destroyed for the seventh time in the past five years.
The Serbian Commission Investigating Murders of Journalists on Monday urged the Specialist Chambers for crimes committed by the so-called KLA to be investigated.
The killing and kidnapping of journalists in Kosovo in the period from 1998 to 2000, the period that encompasses the mandate of the Specialist Chambers for KLA crimes must be the topic of the investigation of the Specialist Prosecutor's Office and prosecuted at the Specialist Chambers.
A memorial plaque placed on the spot from where journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic were abducted on 21 August 1998 was demolished and taken away for the seventh time in the last six years. Demolished plaque was found near the spot by President of Association of Journalists of Serbia in Kosovo, Budimir Nicic and Association of Journalists of Serbia Managing Board member Zivojin Rakocevic, Radio KIM reports.
"I know that Marjan was being threatened for socializing with Serbs. This is what he told me; however, there may have been other things."
Srpska Lista on the occasion of two decades since the kidnapping of Serbian journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic in the area of Orahovic said this case must be resolved and the perpetrators brought to the justice, RTS reported.
“The silence of the international community and Pristina institutions about this case will not discourage us to keep reminding on the perishing of these honourable men, who were kidnapped just because they carried out their duties and were Serbs,” Srpska Lista said in a press statement.