UNMIK/PR/1753
Reacting to a statement by the Journalists' Association of Kosovo, SRSG Zannier denied having threatened Koha Ditore Editor-in-Chief Agron Bajrami over the telephone.
"As I told the Editor-in-Chief of Koha Ditore, I consider publishing lists of names and nationalities of staff of international missions, particularly of junior staff and UN Volunteers operating in a challenging environment, to be contrary to international standards of professional journalism”, he said. “This is confirmed in section 2 (2.2) of the Code of Conduct for the Broadcast Media in Kosovo.”
“Turning to the courts for justice if this affects the security of my staff is normal rule of law practice. If this is considered a threat, this means that the work of the international community in promoting the rule of law in Kosovo still has some way to go”, he concluded.
The UN fully supports freedom of expression, which is a key principle of human rights and democratic governance.
