More than a month has passed since the conflict in the village of Banjska in the municipality of Zvecan, where, according to confirmed information, four people were killed.
At around 3 a.m. on September 24, a Kosovo Police officer was killed. The conflict then heated up, and in an almost all-day exchange of fire between an armed group of people and the Kosovo Police, three alleged attackers, namely three ethnic Serbs, were killed.
At the time, locals were in the village, while guests from Novi Sad, and clergy were in the monastery. Journalists were prohibited from entering the village, Banjska was closed. And the conflict continued.
Nevertheless, the local Serbian and Albanian media managed to obtain some information from the field, as well as from sources in the police.
It was a long way for the news published in the local media to reach Belgrade-based media outlets, at least when it comes to those portals close to the current government.
These media outlets were actually „waiting“ for the Serbian president to make an announcement about Banjska events and, even though the conflict started in the night between the 23rd and 24th, for him to „debunk Kurti’s lies“ at 8 pm.
„Serbs rebelled because they could no longer endure Kurti’s terror“ – reads the president’s key information and the first news about who the armed and informed people actually were.
The media in Belgrade reported on events in Banjska the next day in a similar fashion, labeling Kurti as the „creator of chaos in Kosovo“, who sows terror and commits violence against Serbs.
„Drama in the north of Kosovo! Kurti’s terrorists are killing Serbs! Monsters just left the wounded to die“ – reads the front page headline of the newspaper Alo of September 25, along with „clear messages from Vučić“ that „Albin Kurti is to blame for all the chaos.“
„An answer to every diplomatic victory of Serbia. Kurti’s violence against the Serbs. Powder kegs. Drama in Kosovo: an Albanian attacked Serb children with a knife, a policeman was killed, armed persons broke into the Banjska monastery,“ Kurir wrote on September 25, summarizing the events of the 23rd and 24th.
Srpski Telegraf, on its front page the morning after Banjska events, zoomed in on the president’s message: „Kill us all, we will never recognize Kosovo“, „Albin Kurti is solely to blame for everything, his only goal is to drag Serbia into a war with NATO“, as well as the allegation that „KFOR gave carte blanche to Pristina to kill our compatriots in the southern province“.
„Total chaos in Kosmet, monastery surrounded. A policeman was killed, armed masked persons with an armored vehicle broke into the Banjska monastery,“ Blic reported.
Vecernje Novosti wrote „Kosovo is on the brink of war“ with the main headline „Bloody fruits of terror in Pristina – A so-called Kosovo policeman killed in a gunfight, allegedly three more victims…“
These media outlets shared similar news reports on September 26.
Along with the blurred photographs of one of the wounded Serbs, as well as one of the killed, the front page of Informer was marked by the headline „Kurti wants more blood“, over the statement of the Prime Minister of Kosovo that „all those who participated in the attack in Banjska will be prosecuted“.
The same headline „Kurti wants more blood“ graced the covers of Alo newspaper.
On the same day, Informer wrote about another killed Serb, reporting that „four Serbs and one member of the so-called Kosovo Police were killed.“
„Kurti rounds up his plan. He declared the north to be an area of terrorists. This will allow him to break into Serbian houses without a warrant and continue the silent ethnic cleansing,“ Vecernje Novosti reported, although the news has since been denied.
On its front page, the blurred photos of the murdered Serbs were published – out of a total of „at least four murdered Serbs“.
„The last act. Kurti accelerates the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosmet“ – the front page of Blic warned on the same day, with the allegation that five people were killed in Banjska.
Kurir also wrote about the „fourth killed Serb“, that is, that the number of victims in Banjska rose to five – under the main headline „SOURCE OF EVIL“ with the analysis of experts that Kurti is the sole culprit for all the chaos in Kosovo.
On the same day, Vesti also wrote about „five victims, one of whom is a Kosovo policeman“, with the headline „Oppression of Serbs.“
The next day, on the day of mourning declared by the Government in Serbia due to the events in Kosovo, Informer highlighted „These are our Kosovo heroes“ as the front page, while also sharing photos and the full names of the three Serbs who died in Banjska.
The tabloid also wrote about at least one more murdered Serb, whose identity, as they stated, has not been disclosed.
On the same day, the front page of Srpski Telegraf read: „KFOR allowed the shooting of Serbs. Kurti’s supporters didn’t want anyone alive in the monastery.“
Along with a photo from the first hearing of the arrested Serbs in Banjska, Kurir’s front page from September 27 announced: „Legalization of the hunting of Serbs. Kurti will hit even harder. His goal is mass emigration of our people from Kosovo“.
„Serbia in tears. Tensions, creepiness, and football, vulture opposition“ said the cover of the newspaper Alo with photos of murdered Serbs and another photo – a Serbian flag with an inscription, as well as claims that the identity of another murdered Serb has not been determined.
The September 28 front page of Informer read: „The EU wants to impose sanctions on us. Serbs targeted by the West and Shiptars“. Jelena Karleuša (cf. Serbian pop star) was on the front page, with her statement that „Serbs in Kosovo are being killed, while the world remains silent.“
Blic singled out the headline – „Even stronger pressure on Serbia has begun. Several countries are asking for measures to be introduced against Belgrade if its involvement in the incidents is proven“.
On the fourth day of the conflict, Srpski Telegraf „revealed what preceded the conflict in Banjska“ with the headline: „Kurti wanted to arrest all the prominent Serbs in Kosovo“, which is actually one of the earlier statements made by the Serbian president.
Four days after the conflict, Banjska was finally opened, and the next day, on the front page of Vecernje Novosti, a statement was published from a Banjska local on what they experienced on the fateful September 24: „They stepped on my chest because of an old shirt.“
Kurir tabloid reported: „The village is scared. There are bullet holes on the houses, broken glass around them, the Serbian flag is flying on the mast“. They also conveyed the statement of one of the local women.
The statements of the head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petković, that one of the killed Serbs „died in agony“ after he surrendered and that when he „fell to the ground, he was shot in the head by the Kosovo police“ – read the main headlines in the daily press published the next day.
The headlines kept coming: „Kurti’s dogs of war killed the wounded“, „Bojan’s head was blown off at close range“, „In agony – Bojan was shot in the head, I heard that he was disfigured“, „Monsters. Kurti’s mercenaries brutally killed the Serbs, Bojan’s head was blown off“…
Milan Radoičić’s confession that he himself organized the attack in Banjska, which Kosovo officials previously alleged practically on a daily basis, citing evidence and footage from Banjska, made the front pages of the daily press.
„We are not terrorists, but freedom fighters. I was in the monastery in Banjska on September 24 with my compatriots in order to encourage the Serbian people to resist Kurti’s terror,“ Informer reported.
The same statement appeared on the front page of Vecernje Novosti, however, with reference to the first search that the special units of the Kosovo Police conducted in the north, including in the North Mitrovica Hospital Center.
These two central news pieces were on the cover of the Blic newspaper as well as other Serbian tabloids.
„Kurti like Hilter, increasingly brutal treatment of the Serbian people. Fascism. Shiptars demolished the hospital, came in front of the kindergarten with rifles“, „The beginning of the end of the saga of Kosovo“…
The same media covered the hearing and release of the individual who took responsibility for Banjska, as well as the release of Zoran Marjanović, who was previously sentenced to the harshest prison sentence for the murder of his wife.
This news, along with the indictment raised against the parents of the boy who committed multiple murders in Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade in May, was the main news on the front pages of tabloids in Serbia, until the conflict in the Middle East.
Dragana Vukosavljević
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
