Death threat to Tanjug journalists impermissible attack on media freedoms - EFJ president

BRUSSELS - European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) President Maja Sever said on Tuesday she was deeply concerned over threats to Tanjug journalists and that she condemned them in the strongest terms.

On Monday evening, the Tanjug News Agency received an email signed by an individual named "Trim Bardhi" that said Tanjug journalists would get "a bullet to the back of their heads" the next time they set foot in the territory of Serbia's Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija.

In a letter to Tanjug, Sever noted that any threat to journalists, especially such a brutal and direct death threat, represented an impermissible attack on media freedoms and the right to information.

Wherever they are, journalists must be enabled to do their job freely and without fear of violence or repression, Sever added, noting that the death threats to Tanjug journalists were extremely unsettling and unacceptable.

"I expect and I believe the relevant bodies, as well as the minister, will take all the necessary steps to protect journalists and ensure that perpetrators of threats such as these are brought to justice. Also, it is important that the minister advocates a resolution of all cases of attacks and threats to journalists with equal determination and commitment. The safety of journalists must be a priority in order to preserve freedom of the media and the right of the public to accurate and unbiased information," Sever wrote.

Earlier, Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications Dejan Ristic said the threat had been emailed from Albanian territory and that it was the most serious one a Serbian media outlet had received in years.