Serbian Magazine Wants Kosovo Car Fire Investigated

The Serbian weekly Vreme has called on the director of Kosovo Police, Rashit Qelaj, to investigate the fire that broke out in the vehicle driven by three of its journalists and a reporter of the French-language website Le Courrier des Balkans on January 4.

The car caught fire on January 4 near the Jarinje border crossing. All four journalists quickly vacated the vehicle.

The open letter complains that the Kosovo Police from Leposavic only took statements from the journalists, concluded that the car caught fire spontaneously, and refused to examine security footage from the parking lot where it had been parked.

"Although we do not claim to know the cause of the fire ... we consider this act by Leposavic police unnacceptable and dangerous, especially now when media workers are exposed to tough pressures, intimidation and various forms of violence," the letter reads.

According to Vreme, the journalists were visiting the divided northern town of Mitrovica in order to interview Tatjana Lazarevic, editor-in-chief of the Kosovo news website KoSSev.info.

They parked the car at the North City hotel lot, which has security cameras, on the night between January 3 and 4.

In its letter to the Kosovo Police, Vreme asked them to examine the security cameras in the hotel parking lot and in King Petar street in Mitrovica, where KoSSev's offices are located.

The magazine also requested a forensic examination to determine the cause of the fire.

"This is the only way to determine why the vehicle carrying the crew of Vreme caught fire, and we expect you to order a fast, efficient and thorough investigation," the letter concludes.

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