Presheva.com

The situation in Preshevo is still tense after a recent conflict between the owner and the editor-in-chief of the web portal Presheva.com, Driton Salihu, and the president of the National Council of Albanians (NCA), Galip Beciri. The conflict in the southernmost municipality of Serbia, in which Albanians comprise more than 90 percent of population and which is located at the three-border point between Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo, was caused by a question Salihu asked in mid-October. He wanted to know how much money the NCA had received from the Republic and foreign donors. The editor of the web site – which has around 100,000 visitors a day – wanted to know which source of funds financed the purchase of the Council's Volkswagen Passat worth 15,000 euros. At first, Beciri refused to offer a reply, and it seems that what particularly offended him was Salihu's attempt to use the Law on Availability of Information of Public Importance to get the required information.

- I sent a letter to Mr. Beciri and asked him to answer to five questions posed by the editorial office of Presheva.com. Our media outlet and I wished to find out something about the NCA and its activities. We wanted to offer our readers a story about the work and financial results of the National Council of Albanians achieved during the first and only year of its existence – explained Salihu.

Members of the editorial office of the web portal expected that Mr. Galipi or someone else from the NSA would find it appropriate to offer a response to these questions.

In the beginning of November, Mr. Beciri appeared on a live programme aired by a local TV station, TV Aldi, and accused Salihu of "working for Serbian security services", which is a very serious accusation among Albanians.

- During his appearance in a special TV show broadcast by a private TV station, RTV Aldi from Presevo, Beciri said that an organization called "The Black Hand", the Department of State Security (UDBA), the Security-Information Agency (BIA) and the Serbian Secret Service were behind the web portal Presheva.com and me – said Salihu.

Salihu has reported these accusations to professional associations, international organizations and state institution.

- I demand that you take specific measures to protect the media outlet that I am running, and to ensure unhindered operations of an independent media which for the past 14 years has been at the forefront of the fight for free and independent journalism – wrote Salihu during his first public appearance.

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), which Salihu is a member of, called on Beciri "to refrain from using offensive words against the portal, and to respond to the questions and prove that the National Council of Albanians did not discriminate against some of the media"

Salihu claims that the NCA has paid 50,000 dinars to the bank account of TV Aldi a few days before the controversial programme.

- The only goal of the programe was to tell the viewers that the NCA was doing hard work while some people were trying to diminish its achievements. Mr. Beciri accused us of being controlled by something called "The Black Hand", the police, the UDBA and the Secret Service – said Salihu.

However, Galip Beciri is of the opinion that the attempt to examine the finances of the NCA constitutes an attempt by Mr. Salihu and his web portal to belittle the activities of the National Council of Albanians, whose mission is to take care of the media, the culture, education and usage of Albanian language and national symbols of Albanians in Serbia.

- This is a calculated and politically motivated attack on me and the Council led by well-known political circles – said Beciri. He did not elaborate on their identity.

He denied insulting or libeling the employees of the web portal and its editor.

- One of my sentences was taken out of context and given a different meaning – one that suited the editor-in-chief. What I actually said was that the attack on the NCA was committed as if it had been – God forbid! – orchestrated by someone like "The Black Hand", the Secret Service or UDBA – explained Beciri.

The president of the National Council believes that the dispute could have been caused by bad professional and interpersonal relations between the editor of the web portal, Driton Salihu, and journalists working for the newspaper Nacional, which is published by the NCA.

Nikola Lazic

About the authors

MC Newsletter,
December 2, 2011