(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Bernard Kouchner, the United Nations administrator in Kosovo, RSF expressed “its profound indignation and concern” following the assassination on Sunday 10 September 2000 of Shefki Popova, an Albanian Kosovar journalist working for the daily “Rilindja”. “After the attempted assassination last June of Serb journalist Valentina Cukic, this murder marks […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Bernard Kouchner, the United Nations administrator in Kosovo, RSF expressed “its profound indignation and concern” following the assassination on Sunday 10 September 2000 of Shefki Popova, an Albanian Kosovar journalist working for the daily “Rilindja”. “After the attempted assassination last June of Serb journalist Valentina Cukic, this murder marks a clear degradation of the situation for journalists in Kosovo. We ask you to intervene personally so that Shefki Popova’s murderers are actively sought within the context of the inquiry begun by the United Nations police. We also request that you use all your influence to ensure that the security of journalists and the conditions for the practice of press freedom in Kosovo receive heightened attention,” stated Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. Finally, RSF noted that Popova is the first journalist killed since the United Nations has been in charge of the administration of Kosovo (for details on the Cukic case, see IFEX alerts of 23 and 22 June 2000.)
According to information obtained by RSF, Popova was attacked by two individuals near the cultural centre of Vucitrn, a city with a majority Albanian population located 30 kilometres from Pristina. The journalist was shot, then stabbed. The two attackers — who would have been seen by many witnesses — escaped. A journalist for more than twenty-five years with “Rilindja”, the oldest Albanian-language daily in Kosovo, Popova had been a correspondent in Vucitrn for many years. An inquiry has been opened by the United Nations police.
