(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 April 2000 IFJ media release: IFJ Condemns “Confused and Dangerous” Press Law For Kosovo PLANS by the international community to impose legal controls on the press in Kosovo have been criticised by the International Federation of Journalists, the world’s largest organisation of journalists. The IFJ says proposals to […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 April 2000 IFJ media release:
IFJ Condemns “Confused and Dangerous” Press Law For Kosovo
PLANS by the international community to impose legal controls on the press in Kosovo have been criticised by the International Federation of Journalists, the world’s largest organisation of journalists. The IFJ says proposals to try to restrain elements of the press will encourage the enemies of press freedom in the region.
“Regulating newspapers through a single stand-alone press law is unacceptable anywhere else in the democratic world and it should be unacceptable in Kosovo,” said Aidan White, General secretary of the IFJ. The IFJ is appealing to Bernard Kouchner, the head of the international administration in Pristina, to shelve the plans for a new law that were drawn up on April 11.
“Kosovo’s journalists are already trying to put a system of self-regulation in place. This plan cuts the ground beneath their feet,” said White. The journalists’ association is in the process of establishing its own Board to monitor press behaviour.
The Interim Administrative Council decided to draft a law because of frustration with some of Kosovo’s local newspapers, particularly the fervent nationalism of the Albanian language Bota Sot. But the IFJ warns that the proposal sets a precedent that will give any future administration in Kosovo a free hand to dabble in control of media to suit their political needs.
“Press laws only work when they are part of the general law, providing a legal framework of checks and balances that ensure media operate according to norms that apply to all sections of society. Singling out the press for legal control is a confused and dangerous response to a general problem,” said White.
The IFJ also criticised suggestions that the law is drafted by the local office of the OSCE which is responsible for media development. “The OSCE is supposed to provide the building blocks of press freedom and democracy and now it is being asked to play the role of press police. None of this makes sense and the international administration in Kosovo must think again,” said White.
The IFJ represents more than 450,000 journalists in 100 countries, including journalists in Kosovo.
