New York, September 24, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Fatmire Terdevci, an investigative reporter with the Kosovo independent daily Koha Ditore, was shot and wounded yesterday, according to The Associated Press and local CPJ sources.
Yesterday, Terdevci, 30, was traveling from Glogovac, a small town in central Kosovo, to the capital, Pristina, in a car belonging to the Catholic humanitarian organization Caritas. At around 7:30 p.m., at least one assailant shot and wounded her in the left arm, Nafer Miftari, deputy editor of Koha Ditore told CPJ. She was not on an assignment at the time.
Two bullets were fired from behind; one went through the car’s windshield, and the other hit Terdevci. Her brother and a Caritas worker were also in the car, but only Terdevci was wounded, Miftari said.
Terdevci was treated overnight at the Pristina Central Hospital and was released this morning. Her condition is stable, Miftari told CPJ.
“Terdevci is one of our best investigative reporters,” Baton Haxhiu, executive director of the Kosovo Journalists’ Association, told CPJ. “She oftentimes writes on sensitive subjects.” However, Haxhiu would not speculate about the possible motive for the attack.
Miftari told CPJ that Terdevci usually writes about official corruption, smuggling of goods over the Kosovo-Montenegro border, and organized crime in Kosovo.
U.N. police are currently investigating the incident.
“We are deeply disturbed by the assault on our colleague,” CPJ’s Executive Director Ann Cooper said. “We urge authorities to investigate this case aggressively and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The predominantly ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo remains part of Serbia and Montenegro but has been run by a temporary U.N. administration since June 1999.
