The director of Prishtina-based online newspaper ‘Insajderi’, Parim Olluri was summoned for questioning by the Kosovo Police following the publication of an article that said that the Minister of Health, Arben Vitia refused to sign a contract to supply Pfizer vaccines.
The newspaper published the article on Friday quoting emails and documents exchanged between the company and the Ministry of Health of Kosovo.
“According to emails seen by Insajderi […] the job is done. It only needs the signing of the contract which Arben Vitia did not do. This will have consequences as the supply might be postponed until September,” reads Insajderi’s article.
Vitia called a press conference on Friday evening where he denied the claims.
“The news published by Insajderi newspaper is not true, it’s harmful and malicious”, Vitia said.
He added that the official communication is confidential therefore the media can not publish it. According to Vitia, by publishing such information, the process could be jeopardized. He called on the State Prosecutor to act and “protect the citizens’ interests”.
The State Prosecutor announced on Saturday that it has authorized the Kosovo Police to take all necessary investigative actions in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kosovo, and to initiate a case based on the criminal offense of “Disclosure of official secrecy”.
Based on this authorization, the Serious Crimes department of Kosovo Police went to the office of Insajder, where Olluri said they started interviewing him before accompanying him to the police station where the questioning continued.
“At the Police Station I was told I am not a suspect, but a witness. But this only after the public pressure, as the approach towards me at first was as if I was a suspect,” Olluri told Exit News.
The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) said that Police interviewing Olluri aiming to find out the source of this media is unacceptable.
“This is essentially a flagrant violation of the Law on Protection of Journalism Sources and the right to media freedom,” AGK said.
They called on competent bodies to “initiate disciplinary proceedings against police officers and prosecutors who have abused their authority”, while calling on all relevant actors to stop pressuring and obstructing the work of journalists.
The State approach towards Insjaderi was condemned by local media, opposition politicians, and civil society.
Law on the Protection of Journalism Sources of the Republic of Kosovo reads:
Article 4
- Journalists and other media professionals have the right to remain silent regarding their sources of information. With the exception of cases referred to in Article 5 of this law, journalists and other media professionals cannot be obliged to reveal their sources of information or to give materials, which among other things: may reveal the identity of their sources of information; may reveal the nature or origin of their information; may reveal the identity of an author of a text or audiovisual production; may reveal the content of information and of documents themselves, if that may lead to the identification of the source;
Article 5
- Journalists and other media professionals are obliged to reveal the identity of a source of information as referred to in Article 4 of this Law, only at the request of a competent court and only if: the revelation of the identity of the source of information is necessary to prevent a serious threat to physical integrity which could lead to the death of one or more persons.
- Such a request is legitimate only if it fulfills the following criteria: the information sought is of great importance in preventing these crimes; and the information sought cannot be secured in any other way.
