The slogan of Srpska Lista’s pre-election video – „When Serbia calls, I give my vote“ – is unacceptable for Radio Television of Kosovo, as it is contrary to the law on Kosovo public service broadcasting but also to the law on general elections, RTK election campaign chief, Lorik Arifaj told KoSSev.
Arifaj added that he informed Srpska Lista about this, suggesting that they replace the word „Serbia“ with „Kosovo“ so that the video could be broadcast.
The pre-election campaign for the extraordinary parliamentary elections in Kosovo started today.
RTK election campaign chief and the editor in chief for the channels 1, 3 and 4, Lorik Arifaj said that they received a request from the RTK2 newsroom for a broadcast approval of Srpska Lista’s pre-election video.
„We noticed the phrase ‘When Serbia calls, I give my vote’ in this video. It is unacceptable for a public broadcaster to broadcast this because we operate under the law on RTK and the Constitution of Kosovo,“ he said.
According to Article 18 of law on editorial and programming policies, RTK is not allowed to broadcast any material whose content may contribute to „raising tensions among communities“ – Arifaj added.
RTK editor in chief also said he contacted the Independent Media Commission, saying that the broadcast of this pre-election video entailed a penalty, as it was „unacceptable and impermissible“.
He underlined that he informed Srpska Lista, in front of RTK’s election team, through the director of RTK2, that this advertisement could not be broadcast due to this content.
„All political parties participating in the Kosovo elections have equal rights to appear on RTK through debates, free or paid political video, but the laws, regulations and ethics of political parties should be respected. Please correct that word, or replace it with ‘Kosovo’ and send it to us again,“ Arifaj said in his reply to Srpska Lista.
He added that he was informed in the meantime that the Kosovo Law on General Elections also does not allow the broadcasting of such content.
Article 33 of this law also stipulates that during the election campaign political entities are prohibited from „using words, verbally or in writing, which offend or provoke, or aim to provoke another person, to provoke in order to cause violence against a person or property, which promotes or aims to incite hatred against others, or publishes or uses images, symbols or other material that may have such an effect.“
„This sentence would lead to such a situation,“ Arifaj concluded.
According to Arifaj, Article 2 of this Law stipulates that „all political entities have the right to campaign and electoral propaganda through the media, by holding political events, publishing and forwarding election material, in a lawful manner and in accordance with applicable law and rules“.
Srpska Lista representatives will not represent the interests of self-proclaimed Kosovo, but the interests of the Serbian people and our state of Serbia
Srpska Lista announced earlier today that Radio Television of Kosovo “banned” the broadcasting of their pre-election video.
We publish Srpska Lista’s press release in its entirety:
“We are informing the public that Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) has banned the broadcasting of Srpska Lista’s pre-election video today, on the grounds that the sentence: ‘When Serbia calls, I give my vote’ cannot be broadcast on television station.
Our party has been asked to delete that part of our pre-election message or replace the sentence with ‘when Kosovo calls’.
The clarification we received from RTK election team leader Lorik Arifaj contains a blanket reference to the law, but not the explanation which election rule or law we violated with our election message.
Srpska Lista, as its name implies, is a political organization that brings together Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija loyal to their state of Serbia. We are going to the polls on October 6 with the support of our state of Serbia, and without this support we would not even be going to the polls.
Self-proclaimed Kosovo, as an entity which is not recognized by most of humanity and is not a full member of the international community, since it is not a member of the United Nations, cannot call on Serbs for anything, not even for elections, because the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija do not care a fig about calls coming from Pristina.
Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, who almost unanimously support Srpska Lista and Belgrade’s policy towards Kosovo and Metohija, have been exposed to various pressures by Pristina and certain extremist Albanian political groups throughout the election campaign, and this today is the culmination of indecency and chauvinistic hatred towards everything that is Serbian.
Srpska Lista, when its representatives sit in the Pristina parliament, will not represent the interests of self-proclaimed Kosovo, but the interests of the Serbian people and our state of Serbia.
Therefore, we will not change our election video. We are taking RTK’s refusal to broadcast as an attack on the political rights of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija and freedom of speech, about which we will inform the international public.
And so once again, just to spite anyone who wants to ban this:
WHEN SERBIA CALLS, I GIVE MY VOTE
FOR SRPSKA LISTA – 135”
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
