Brnabic condemns threats to Tanjug, expresses support to agency's employees

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic condemned in the strongest terms an email with death threats to Tanjug journalists and called on state authorities to react promptly and cooperate at international level to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

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.

"First of all, I would like to express support to all of you, all Tanjug journalists, the whole newsroom and all Tanjug employees. To give you as much wind in your sails as I can so that you may continue to do your extremely important work in a professional manner, as you have until now," Brnabic said in a statement to Tanjug.

She said that, like Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and PM Milos Vucevic, she condemned the threats in the strongest terms.

"I would also like to call on our authorities to react promptly. It is nice that the minister in charge (Minister of Information and Telecommunications Dejan Ristic) reacted immediately. We - all of us together - should do everything we can because an international level of cooperation will likely be required to identify the sender of the threats, or a group of people who sent them, to bring them to justice," she said.

"I wish you that you may continue to do your work as you have been doing it until now - with your professionalism, courage and perseverance. Because that work is in the interest of the truth and, evidently, that truth - that Kosovo-Metohija is an autonomous province of Serbia - is something many have a problem with, but your courage is also an inspiration," Brnabic said, expressing full support to Tanjug employees.