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Kosovo’s press council has voted to fine newspaper Infopress 1,000 euro following a series of hostile articles against BIRN Kosovo.

The Pristina daily was found to have breached the Press Council of Kosovo’s code of conduct in five articles which attacked BIRN’s Life in Kosovo television show and its presenter Jeta Xharra.

Following the vote on June 22, Infopress has been ordered to pay a 1,000 euro fine and print the council’s findings within three days.

The press council, a self-regulatory body which is represented by almost all print media in Kosovo, said that allegations that Xharra was a “servant of the Serb secret police” could pose a “direct physical threat to her and members of her team” and recommended the issue be referred to the police and judiciary for investigation.

The front-page article and interview, in which Sami Lushtaku, PDK mayor of Skenderaj, made the allegations against Xharra, was ruled to be “unsubstantiated” and the council recommended it be referred to the prosecutor’s office, the police and the courts for “possible violations of the criminal code, such as threat, incitement to violence (or even to murder)”.

In its adjudication of Xharra’s complaint, the council said that some of these issues were beyond its remit, but added: “However, based on the Press Code, some parts of the respective interview such as “Jeta Xharra is a servant of the Serb Secret Police” without being substantiated by concrete facts in support of this allegation, could pose a direct physical threat to her and members of her team, when considering the negative actions of this notorious police unit over decades against people of Kosovo and the bitter memories which it could bring back to the Kosovo public, when a journalist is vested with the epithet of a “servant” of that police unit without sustainable arguments as in the concrete case.”       

The articles followed a Life in Kosovo television debate on press freedom. It featured a video report in which BIRN Kosovo’s news team was shown being expelled from the Skenderaj municipality’s Office for Public Information, and forced to leave the town by an armed man who confiscated their footage.
    
Infopress reacted to the report from the Drenica region, the heartland of the former Kosovo Liberation Army, with a series of articles including: A frontpage story which alleged that RTK, the publicly funded channel which broadcasts the show, was “terrorising Drenica”; an interview with Lushstaku which included a front-page heading “Lushtaku: Jeta Xharra is a servant of the Serb Secret Police”; and an article entitled “Four treasons of Jeta”, which included the comment that “Jeta chose herself not to live a long life”.

Regarding the first article, the council decided that although the views expressed were part of an opinion piece, the newspaper had failed to distinguish between comment and information by printing the allegations on the front-page.

The council wrote: “Although this article represents personal views of an author, press council nonetheless considers that the attacks using improper epithets are unacceptable.”

The press council agreed that the second article, which depicted Xharra as a “servant of the Serb secret police”, represented the views of both the interviewee, Lushtaku, and the “somewhat” the position of the newspaper. The council wrote: “Such publishing in the front page which depicts the accusations of Lushtaku against Jeta Xharra and her crew somewhat represents the standpoint of the newspaper.”

The press council ruled that comments in the third article suggesting Xharra had “chose herself not to live a long life”, represented “an incitement and hate speech as defined in Article 3 of the press code”.

Infopress later sought to clarify the sentence, claiming it should not be construed as a death threat.

The press council wrote: “This is yet another case that indicates that [the] newspaper should have intervened in time in order to avoid the suggestion of intimidation to the life of journalists in order to enable them to freely exercise their profession and in order to ensure free press without dictation by anyone.”

Another two editorials were also found to have breached Article 3 of the code: An editorial published on June 5, in which Xharra is portrayed as a war profiteer, and another article in which she is “presumed guilty of treason”.

The council wrote: “These articles taken together could not only endanger the life and work of Jeta Xharra and her team, but also contain professional deficiencies.”  

All members of the council have been requested to publish the adjudication “due to the seriousness of the case”.         

The Infopress articles, which were printed between May 29 and June 7, caused a political storm, with senior diplomats, NGOs and journalist groups condemning the attacks.

Calls were also made for the government to distance itself from the campaign in Infopress, which receives a significant proportion of advertising money from the PDK-LDK coalition government, and is widely seen as pro-PDK.

Following pressure, the government released a statement saying that “all isolated occasions when the freedom of expression is threatened are punishable by the government”, but a government spokesman explained this was a “general statement” and was not specifically aimed at the Infopress coverage.

On Wednesday June 10, Infopress called an end to its “debate” on the Life in Kosovo show, saying the issue had been discussed fully and that it had listened to the comments from “local and international organisations”.

Major problems noted by the monitors in a report released this week include unreasonably long delays in opening, and then concluding, cases; failures to meet the standards expected in handling trials, and some instances of suspected corruption by judges and prosecutors.

The study, conducted at four district courts and seven municipal courts from March 2008, found that the workload of judges varies widely. In the district court of Peja/Pec last June, for example, one judge heard 99 cases, whilst another heard none. Of the 513 trials monitored across the country, 59 per cent began late.

Flawed administration slows the work of the courts, according to the study. Problems included the possession of out-of-date contact details for suspects; the centralised appointment system for administrative staff and the inability, or unwillingness, of court staff to use the new computerised registration system, despite the offer of training.

In addition, the failure to produce electronic recordings of court proceedings, as required under the 2004 Criminal Procedure Code, raised concerns that some information or statements may not be included in official records.

One contributing factor may be that almost three-quarters of the monitored trials took place in judges’ offices, as opposed to court rooms, in contravention of the principle that trials should be open to the public, as far as possible. Additionally, one of the major violations of the court work is that public prosecutors have been found to attend up to three trials at the same time, when they are expected to concentrate on one trial

The judicial police unit for investigating court cases still does not exist, some five years after it was envisaged in Kosovo’s criminal justice code. The work is currently performed by investigators from the overburdened Kosovo Police Service. The Chief Prosecutor for the Ferizaj/Urosevac municipal court, Ekrem Shabani, cited the lack of a judicial police service as an important factor in the large number of unsolved crimes in his municipality, which stood at 1,400 in 2008 alone.

Even after judgements are passed, the enforcement of sentences is patchy. For example, out of the 591 criminals punishable by imprisonment in 2008 in Pristina municipal court, only 298 actually went to prison.

According to Rifat Abdullahu, the head judge of Ferizaj/Urosevac  municipal court, the system for civil sentences “is in true chaos”. In his court, out of the 6,050 cases processed in 2008, fewer than 10 per cent had their sentences imposed. Figures for the municipality of Pristina are similarly low.

Court officials suggested this was being caused by uncooperative banks, the mis-registration of debtors’ addresses and insufficient physical and human capacity to effectively deal with the collection of fines and enforcement of sanctions.

However, Artan Arifi, an official from Gjilan/Gnjilane municipal court, claimed that the statistics for civil cases appeared alarming because “a large number of unpaid fines are from Post Office debtors”, adding that the Post Office “sometimes initiates judicial proceedings for debts of €25”.

Monitors observed that public defence lawyers often did not attempt to communicate with their assigned clients outside of court. In one trial in the municipal court of Peja/Pec, the public defence lawyer had to ask the prosecutor which individual was his client.

The other main violations of legal norms highlighted in the report were the widespread use of mobile telephones by court officials during trials and the failure, in some cases, to provide suitable translation for parties and witnesses who could not speak or read Albanian.

The report found that institutional problems were at the heart of issues related to the smooth-running of trials.

After three years of delays, the re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors has finally begun. The process, which is hoped to ‘cleanse’ the judiciary of those who have abused their positions, is scheduled to last 22 months. Those officials wishing to continue working in court must submit to an evaluation of their past activities.

However, those officials who do not reapply will not be subjected to checks. Consequently, BIRN has drawn attention to the possibility that unsuitable judges and prosecutors could simply move to another role within the judiciary.

Despite the major impact the re-evaluation process may have upon Kosovo’s judiciary, as well as the persistently low number of officials, the Ministry of Justice has not held Bar Exams since January 2008. The report concludes that not only is this a violation of the ministry’s obligation to hold exams at least three times a year, but it could lead to a shortage of suitable candidates to replace those judges deemed unsuitable in reform processes.

In the meantime, judges suspected of abusing their positions have not been subjected to restrictions. Gjilan/Gnjilane district court’s head judge, Ymer Huruglica, admitted trying to influence the direction of the criminal trial of a relative, charged with the possession of heroin. Despite the opening of an investigation into this case by the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor in June last year, Huruglica, also the head of the Kosovo Society of Judges, continues to preside over civil and criminal cases in Gjilan/Gnjilane district.

A series of targeted recommendations has been put forward by BIRN in the hope its report will encourage the competent authorities to push for further reforms and wholeheartedly implement those previously agreed.

Fatmire Terdevci is the Project Manager of the BIRN monitoring of public services project and Tom Fuller is the Editor of the “Monitoring of Courts” report

The “Monitoring of public services” project is supported by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, European Commission, Mott Foundation and Balkan Trust for Democracy 

What are the findings of the one-year monitoring of district and municipal courts in Prishtina, Peja, Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Gjilan, Vushtrri and Skenderaj?

What are the implications of the delays in attending a trial case? How can a prosecutor be stopped from attending two trials at the same time? Are the judges’ offices a good enough substitute for courtrooms?

What difficulties does the absence of a translator in a trial pose? Does the fact that court staff do not use electronic devices, and let their phones ring in trials indicate a lack of seriousness and inefficiency in an official duty?

To discuss these finding and the recommendations of BIRN’s report on judicial system in Kosovo, the debating panel consists of representatives of judges, prosecutors, officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Kosovo Judicial Council, as well as the monitors who for a year monitored courts in Kosovo, beginning in March 2008.

They are:

Rexhep Haxhimusa, head of the Supreme Court of Kosovo;
Vahid Limani, head of the Administration and Personnel Department at KJC Secretariat;
Ismet Kabashi, head of the Kosovo Prosecutors’ Association;
Hamdi Ibrahimi, Pristina District Court judge;
Nekibe Kelmendi, Minister of Justice;
Kujtim Kerveshi, legal expert from Kosovo Judicial Institute;
Fatmire Terdevci, project manager;
Isa Gacaferi, court monitor in Peja/Pec region;
Valdrin Beka, court monitor in Ferizaj/Urosevac region,
Fatmire Haliti, court monitor in Gjilan/Gnjilane region,
Faton Ademi court monitor in regions of Vushtrri and Skenderaj,
Betim Musliu, journalist covering justice,
Musa Dragusha, head of the Kosovo Chamber of lawyers.
Çlirim Hajdeni, head of the Planning and Development Unit, Investigations Pillar of Kosovo Police.

Meanwhile in the Culture in Kosovo report, Arif Muharremi speaks about the book fair which opened in Prishtina on June 3, 2009.

Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.

This Thursday, viewers will be able to watch the show starting from 23:15 Life in Kosovo debates the Ombudsperson with the three candidates waiting to be elected, and representatives from the Parliament of Kosovo and civil society.

Why have the election for such an important position been postponed for so long? Will the new Ombudsperson be able to protect public interest?

These will be some of the issues that will be discussed in the frame of the show.
 
This week Life in Kosovo brings the Week’s Highlight report, which talks about the joint action of the Municipality of Prishtina and Raiffeisen Bank, who have kept their promise of planting 200 saplings for improving the green areas in Prishtina.

Meanwhile, in the Culture in Kosovo report, Arif Muharremi talks about the euphoria of school trips and prom nights which have already started to besmirch the end of academic year.

Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.

Are Kosovars the only ones left out of the Schengen visa liberalisation process? How far is Kosovo from the EU? What are the differences between the countries of the region regarding the EU integration process? Which countries are faring best and which ones worse? What is the image of Albanians in Europe?

These issues will be the main points of discussion in the studio of the European Commission in Brussels, also the location where the decision on Kosovo’s inclusion in Schengen visa liberalisation will be taken. Muhamet Hajrullahu’s guests for this debate will be:

Augustin Palokaj – Kosovar daily Koha Ditore correspondent for Brussels,
Ernest Bunguri – correspondent for the TV ALSAT in Macedonia and Albania,
Gjeraqina Tuhina – Radio Television of Kosova, RTK, correspondent for Brussels,
Zelko Panteliq – Serbian daily ‘Dnevnik’ correspondent for Brussels.

Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.

Embargo: 12:00 CET, 9th April 2009

In what is certain to be the top story in the Balkans media today, BIRN will publish, at 12:00 CET a detailed investigation, quoting UN documents and independent eyewitness accounts into allegations of torture and extra-judicial killings in prison camps in Albania and Kosovo.

The full text of the article will be published on www.balkaninsight.com at 12:00 hrs CET and is available for syndication. Syndication enquiries should be sent to: [email protected]

An abstract of the article follows:

KLA Ran Torture Camps in Albania

The KLA maintained a network of prisons in their bases in Albania and Kosovo during and after the conflict of 1999, eyewitnesses allege. Only now are the details of what occurred there emerging.
 During the war of 1999, an industrial compound in Kukes in north west Albania was not merely the headquarters for guerrillas fighting the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, to secure the independence of Kosovo from Serbia.

It assumed more sinister purposes:  dozens of civilians, mainly Kosovo Albanians suspected of collaboration, were held captive there, beaten and tortured.  Some were killed, their remains never recovered.  The men who allegedly directed the abuses were officers of the KLA.

At least 25 people were imprisoned in Kukes, mostly Kosovo Albanians suspected of collaborating with the Serbian authorities, Roma and possibly some Serbs. Amongst them were three Kosovo Albanian women.  In the camp 18 people were killed, while others were later released.

It appears that Kukes was one of a number of detention centres in Albania and Kosovo, and that prisoners were transferred from one facility to another.

Even after the NATO interventions, a camp was maintained in Babaloq in Kosovo, holding around 30 Serb and Roma prisoners whose current whereabouts are unknown.

The names of several alleged perpetrators have been known to UNMIK for some time.
One of them is still holding a high position in the Kosovo judiciary, Balkan Insight understands.

The full story will be published on www.balkaninsight.com at 12:00 CET
ENDS

©This abstract and the full article are the copyright of the Balkan Investigative Journalism Network, BIRN and the authors. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the express permission of BIRN.  Requests for syndication should be directed to [email protected]

About BIRN:

BIRN is a network of independent charities operating across the Balkans.  Our mission is to help develop an active and independent media working to international standards and to report on events in the region without bias or favour.

BIRN publishes Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) the leading English language online news outlet covering the region.  We also publish Belgrade Insight and Prishtina Insight, the only English language newspapers in their respective cities.

For more information visit:

www.birn.eu.com
www.balkaninsight.com