From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Two Journalists Shot As Kosovo Violence Escalates HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=15213&printerf riendly=1 2 journalists shot, 1 fatally, in pre-election violence in Kosovo By freedomforum.org staff 10.23.01 Two journalists in the Serbian province of Kosovo have been shot, one fatally, in separate incidents, according to local and foreign press reports. In both cases, which occurred the night of Oct. 19, it is not known whether the shootings were related to the journalists' work. In the fatal shooting, Bekim Kastrati, an ethnic Albanian journalist with the newspaper Bota Sot, was killed instantly by gunfire aimed at the car in which he and others were riding. The newspaper is one of Kosovo's largest and is close to the political party of Ibrahim Rugova, one of the main ethnic Albanian leaders. A second victim in the vehicle, who died several hours after the shooting, was identified as Besim Dajaku, a former member of Rugova's security escort. A third passenger, Gani Geci, who fought with the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, was wounded. A spokesman for the United Nations forces in Kosovo told Reuters the attackers pulled alongside the vehicle carrying the victims and opened fire near the town of Srbica, northwest of the provincial capital, Pristina. A U.N. police spokesman told the German news service DPA that his agency had not ruled out a political link to the murder. Rugova called Kastrati's murder a politically motivated crime and an attack on the free press in Kosovo. The wounded journalist was Rados Radonjic, an ethnic Serb who works for the Serb state radio and television, RTS. He was shot through the window of his home in the village of Devet Jugovica, near Pristina, when he got up to turn on the lights after hearing strange noises in his back yard. Radonjic reportedly was "gravely wounded" and is in a local hospital. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Kosovo expressed its "deep concern" at Kastrati's killing. "This incident has happened at an extremely important and sensitive time for Kosovo, in view of the forthcoming elections," OSCE said. "While the motives of the attack are still unclear and the police investigation is under way, any violent incident of this kind is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said that "the murder of Bekim Kastrati serves as a reminder of the grave security threats that journalists in Kosovo face." CPJ called on the U.N. police in Kosovo "to investigate this case aggressively and prosecute those responsible." The violence comes at a time of growing political tension in Kosovo, where political parties are preparing for the first round of province-wide elections, to be held on Nov. 17. Voters will elect a 120-seat assembly, which will have broad authority but will remain subordinate to the province's U.N. presence. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________
