STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- International War And Peace Reporting Sunday, June 10, 2000 IWPR Editor Detained in Macedonia (Special Alert, 9-Jun-01) At approximately 9:00 AM on Saturday, June 9, IWPR assistant editor in Macedonia Veton Latifi was arrested at a police checkpoint on the road towards Kumanovo at the outskirts of Skopje, the Macedonian capital. Latifi, 26, a regular contributor to IWPR's Balkan Crisis Report who also works for the Albanian programme of the Macedonian state television, was travelling in a shared taxi with four other passengers and was the only one taken to the police station, after a review of identity cards. "It is an order," Latifi was told by one of the officers as he was taken in a special windowless van to the police station. During his detention, Latifi's mobile telephone, computer disks, press cards, and other material related to his work as a journalist were seized. He was not allowed to make any telephone calls. Police regularly pointed guns at him, and several times he was threatened verbally. "Definitely he will die [sic]," a member of the police special forces said. After nearly two hours, he was released without explanation. Some of his computer disks were retained. This is the second time Latifi, who has extensive contacts with international diplomats and others engaged in the crisis, has had trouble with the Macedonian authorities since the crisis erupted in the country. A month ago, police arrested his father in Kumanovo and detained him for one night without charges. The incident occurs in the context of increasing fighting between Macedonian forces and the National Liberation Army. The Institute for War & Peace Reporting condemns this effort to intimidate a working journalist. RELATED LINKS United States Instititute of Peace Albanian-language Media Blue Sky Radio, Kosovo Central Europe Online - Balkans Today Exile Images Greek Helsinki Monitor Human Rights Watch Intl Crisis Group KosovoPress Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Orthodox Church, Kosovo OSCE Serbian Information Ministry UNMIK US State Dept World Press Review Yahoo! News/Kosovo YU-Media SUPPORT IWPR gratefully acknowledges support from: Department for International Development UK (DFID) The European Union Ford Foundation Freedom Forum Open Society Institute Press Now Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA) © Institute for War & Peace Reporting Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, UK Tel: +44 (207) 713 7130 Fax: +44 (207) 713 7140 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]