Denial of journalists' attacks is being described as problematic

At the negotiating table that had challenges to freedom of expression and the safety of journalists, online journalists' safety and the implementation of the rule of law in combating criminal impunity against journalists, he told them that it should be a priority to handle cases of attacks on journalists.

Journalist Betim Musliu said that often they are threatened with the work they do, which said there are cases when prosecutors have not reacted and stopped the cases.

Musliu said the fragility of the functioning of justice institutions is also suffering by the journalists' community, since it has not rarely happened that attacks on journalists end with murder and never dawn.

Another problem is how the justice system in this case from among judges handles cases of attacks on journalists. Sentences that are never pronounced achieve the purpose of punishment because they are mild punishments that bring no message to the perpetrators, who have ventured to confront the journalist physically, nor does he give a message to society that journalists are persons who are not supposed to be physically affected. So, the justice system so far in the part of the prosecution of criminal acts against journalists and the trial of these acts has not played the role it has. It is time for the end to have a awareness and to understand the status of journalists in our society”, he said.

Media rights lawyer Butterie Kusari said problematic in Kosovo remains a failure to punish those who attack or threaten journalists.

“The first aspect is to avoid punishment and to be perhaps more practical I asked you to think about what would happen to a person if he were to slap Libran Ali, former Prime Minister Mestim Shala, former Prime Minister Selim Selimi, or former Prime Minister Daman Ismaili? In a very short time, the person would be arrested and put on charges and sentenced to prison because politicians have been embarrassed. We have an online threat to Ambassador Gashi, who has been sentenced to 1 year and six months in prison. We have a very serious problem with impunity, one problem is that criminals don't deserve it, and the other problem is that our courts don't recognize them as a problem of punishment. From the few acts so far in Kosovo, we have a standard where if you threaten a journalist you will be sentenced to 200 euros, 500 euros, or if you physically attack him you will be sentenced to 4 thousand euros”, Kusari said.

She said they should establish the capacities of police, prosecutors, judges in terms of addressing cases involving freedom of expression.

Kusari has also criticised the lack of declaring of leaders of institutions and political parties in Kosovo for World Press Freedom Day.

State Media Council Director Imer Mushkolaj spoke about the open debate in recent days that even online media should be adjusted. He said he has met representatives of the Government and deputies of the Kosovo Assembly to make it clear to them what self-regulation and what media regulation means, and on this subject he said their knowledge is flawed to say zero.

He said that there are proper legal frameworks in Kosovo that regulate the issue of media and journalists, and that if the same does not carry out the task responsibly, there is the law, which punishes them.

You may not believe it, but there are a lot of deputies, even loud ones who demand that the media be regulated, maybe even a special media law, but they don't actually know what the existing laws regulate journalists' issues and that's a pity... There is a proper legal framework in Kosovo that regulates the issue of media and journalists, but it is another issue that this legal framework does not apply as many other laws do. So journalists are not specific species that can do anything, but they are like all Kosovo citizens to do their job responsibly and if they don't carry it out responsibly then there is the law they punish”, he said.

World Press Freedom Day has been marked by numerous activities organised by the Kosovo Journalists' Association.