KFOR, so-called Kosovo Police provide no response to query about threat to Tanjug journalists

BELGRADE - KFOR and the so-called Kosovo Police have provided no response to a Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) query about a recent death threat to Tanjug journalists, while the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo-Metohija (EULEX) said it had no mandate to investigate it and UNMIK - the UN mission in Serbia's autonomous province - informed the UN special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression of the case.

Earlier this month, the Serbian Special Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime said the death threat emailed to the Tanjug News Agency late last month had been sent from the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija.

Asked whether it had launched a probe into the case and what steps it was taking about the threat, EULEX condemned in the strongest terms any action that could pose a risk to freedom of expression, especially in cases of death threats to journalists, but said it no longer had the executive mandate to conduct investigations and advised the UNS to contact local authorities.

In its response, UNMIK said it was concerned over reports of serious threats directed at Tanjug journalists and added that it had shared the UNS message with the UN rapporteur for an adequate reaction, the association said in a statement.

On October 30, Tanjug received an email signed by an individual named "Trim Bardhi" that said its 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.