At the close of Special Rapporteur Irene Khan’s official visit to Serbia and Kosovo* from March 28 to April 6, 2023, the UN rapporteur gave a press conference and a series of media interviews. The UN rapporteur gave her preliminary assessment of the enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the media in Serbia and Kosovo, including the implementation of laws and policies that affect the work of the media and civil society.
The Special Rapporteur will present a comprehensive report of her visit to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in June 2024.
Special Rapporteur Khan held an official press conference at the Media Centre in Belgrade:
The Special Rapporteur gave an interview to Cenzolovka, a Serbian news website dedicated to journalism, media and freedom of speech. She noted:
Answering the question whether we can even start a conversation about freedom of the media and freedom of expression when we have unsolved cases of murders of journalists, Khan emphasised that in Serbia “we still have threats and attacks on journalists who do not feel safe”.
We still have threats and attacks on journalists who do not feel safe. And that is a way of censoring speech and the media. That’s why I think it is necessary to pay more attention to solving these cases as quickly as possible.
Irene Khan
Interview of Special Rapporteur Khan by RT Vojvodina 1 (in Serbian, no English language version available):
Special Rapporteur Khan’s interview by RTV is accessible on their website and on Apple Podcasts.
A number of media outlets covered the Special Rapporteur’s official visit, including Cenzolovka, Danas, Beta, Dijalog.net, BizLife, Insajder, 021, Dnevnievropskiservis, Novi Magazin, Autonomija, Glas Amerike VOA, Krstarica, N1info, UNS, Al Jazeera Balkans, and Portal Forum.
*NOTE: Any mention of Kosovo is interpreted in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)