(IPI/IFEX) – The following is a letter by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate: Lieutenant General Yves De Kermabon Commander KFOR KFOR Headquarters Pristina, Kosovo Fax: +381 38 503 603 2752 H.E. Bajram Rexhepi Prime Minister of Kosovo Pristina, Kosovo Fax: +381 38 211 202 Vienna, 6 September 2004 Your Excellencies, […]
(IPI/IFEX) – The following is a letter by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate:
Lieutenant General Yves De Kermabon
Commander KFOR
KFOR Headquarters
Pristina, Kosovo
Fax: +381 38 503 603 2752
H.E. Bajram Rexhepi
Prime Minister of Kosovo
Pristina, Kosovo
Fax: +381 38 211 202
Vienna, 6 September 2004
Your Excellencies,
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the recent attack on a photojournalist for the KosovaPress news agency.
According to information before SEEMO, on 30 August, Jahja Tmava, a photojournalist for KosovaPress, was covering a protest in Pristina led by the Association of Kidnapped Persons’ Families when KFOR (Kosovo Force) police started arresting the protesters. Members of a Swedish KFOR unit seized Tmava’s camera and deleted his pictures on the grounds that he was photographing members of KFOR. KosovaPress maintains that he was photographing police as they arrested protesters.
In SEEMO’s opinion, this is a gross violation of everyone’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” as outlined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SEEMO condemns the seizure of the reporter’s camera and the obstruction of his work by the KFOR police. We demand an explanation for these actions and remind you that providing secure working conditions for journalists is one of the basic principles of every democratic society. KFOR, a NATO-led international force responsible for establishing and maintaining security in Kosovo, should be especially careful to respect international standards when communicating with journalists.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General
