His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic
President of Yugoslavia
Belgrade
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Vienna, 29 March 1999
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemns the killing of Baton Haxhiu, editor-in-chief of the leading Kosovo Albanian newspaper, Koha Ditore.
We are informed that apart from Haxhiu, four other prominent Albanians, including Fehmi Agani, a member of the Kosovo Albanian delegation to the peace talks in Rambouillet, France, were “executed” on Sunday, 28 March. According to a NATO military spokesman, the killings took place some time after the Albanian leaders attended the funeral of lawyer Bajram Kelmendi, who was shot dead along with his two sons by Serb police on the first night of NATO strikes on Wednesday, 24 March.
According to Kosovo Albanian sources, the Pristina offices of Koha Ditore were destroyed and the caretaker murdered by Serbian police following the start of the air campaign.
IPI, the global network of editors and media executives, condemns this heinous crime and urges you to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. We further urge you not to use the NATO air campaign as a pretext to increase the repression of the media in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
We thank you for your attention.
Your sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director