His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic
President of Yugoslavia
Belgrade
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Vienna, 26 April 1999
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, is most concerned for the safety of Pit Schnitzler, a German television correspondent, who is currently being detained by the authorities in Yugoslavia.
Pit Schnitzler, 56, south-east Europe correspondent for the German television station Sat. 1, has been held by the authorities since Friday, 16 April 1999. He was detained somewhere between Belgrade and the Serbian-Croatian border as he tried to leave the country. Already on 8 April, his car and technical equipment were taken at gunpoint by military police officers at the Belgrade Inter-Continental Hotel.
According to our information, Serb and Yugoslav authorities have accused Schnitzler of espionage.
IPI strongly condemns the detention and harassment of both local and foreign journalists by the Serb and Yugoslav authorities as a blatant attempt to silence critical reporting on events in the region and has appealed to all parties involved in the present conflict not to target the media. This has included an appeal to NATO not to bomb civilian broadcast facilities. We therefore urge you to ensure that Schnitzler is released immediately and unconditionally and that his equipment is returned to him.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director