PEN protests harassment of writers and journalists in Kosovo

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN wrote to President Milosevic of Serbia on 19 June 1995 expressing concern at the continued pattern of harassment and arrest of writers and journalists in Kosovo. Indicative of this pattern of abuse of the rights to freedom of expression are the reports of the arrest and in […]

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN wrote to
President Milosevic of Serbia on 19 June 1995 expressing concern
at the continued pattern of harassment and arrest of writers and
journalists in Kosovo.

Indicative of this pattern of abuse of the rights to freedom of
expression are the reports of the arrest and in some instances
beatings of nine journalists during the past three months. It is
believed that the cases listed below are only a small sample of a
greater number of attacks against writers during this period.

Kosovo newspapers reported in mid-March 1995 that three
journalists, Gerkin Ibishi, Avdi Podrimgaku and Jusuf Salihu, had
been briefly arrested. Gerkin Ibishi is said to have been told
that his life was under threat if he continued to write against
the Serbian authorities.

On 11 April, Berat Selman Luzha, a journalist and member of the
“illegal” Kosovo parliament who has been imprisoned in the past
for political reasons, was among those detained under a mass
arrest. He was freed with five others on 14 April. There are
reports that he was subjected to physical abuse while detained.

On 14 April 1995, Curr Mazrekaj, a reporter for the Albanian
language newspaper “Bujku”, was briefly detained for
interrogation. Only four months earlier, in December 1994, he had
been arrested, again for a short period, during which time it is
claimed that he suffered ill-treatment at the hands of police.

Riza Greicevci, a journalist for “Bujku”, was held for several
hours for questioning on 9 May. Daut Maliqi, also working for
“Bujku”, was also briefly detained on 17 May.

Sports journalist Gani Kosumi has been detained on a number of
occasions — at least once for questioning on Kosovo sports
events. His most recent arrest was during 22 to 23 May 1995.
During that time, he had his tape recorder, camera and press
accreditation taken from him.

Zeke Gacaj, editor of “Bujku”, was arrested on 1 June 1995 on the
Kosovo/Macedonia border from where he planned to travel on to the
USA. His passport was confiscated on the grounds that he had
visited Albania on a number of occasions without authorization.
According to PEN, the consistent pattern of brief arrest by Serb
officials of Kosovo journalists who work for Albanian language
publications or who have expressed dissenting views appears to
be aimed at suppressing free speech.

Recommended Action

President Slobodan Milosevic

President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Fax: + 38 11 656 862 or 682 167