Seeking Justice for Journalists Slavuj and Perenić: 27 Years Lost, Impunity Persists

August 21, 2025 – Serbia/Albania –

radio correspondent Đuro Slavuj and driver Ranko Perenić of Radio Priština vanished while travelling to cover the return of kidnapped monks at Sveti Vrači monastery in western Kosovo. Their blue Zastava 128 vehicle and all traces of them disappeared after they entered a region under KLA control, marking one of the earliest journalist disappearances during the conflict.

Nearly three decades later, their fate remains unresolved. Every year on the anniversary of their disappearance, journalists, families, and members of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) gather at the site of the abduction beside a memorial plaque bearing the message “Return our colleagues”—in both Serbian and Albanian. Despite being destroyed eight times, the plaque has been persistently reinstalled as a symbol of enduring remembrance and resistance.

Efforts to find answers have repeatedly been thwarted. Initial investigations—including those involving NYT correspondent Mike O’Connor and appeals to the CPJ—yielded little to no progress. Neither the United Nations (UNMIK), the EU’s rule-of-law mission (EULEX), nor the Kosovo authorities have made meaningful headway. The surviving documentation revealed that the case was quietly closed in 2013 due to a total lack of evidence, information, or identified perpetrators.

Journalism advocates, notably through the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), have repeatedly called for justice. Motions demanding an International Commission of Experts to investigate the disappearances and murders of journalists in Kosovo (1998–2005) were passed in Lisbon (2018), Zagreb (2021), and Priština (2024). Despite calls and letters—including one from the IFJ to Kosovo’s prime minister—action has not followed.

Situating the case within a broader landscape of impunity, the blog emphasizes that unresolved crimes against media professionals strike at the heart of press freedom and civic life. As author Jelena L. Petković writes: “When crimes go unpunished, freedom of speech becomes a bleeding target… We must fight back.” The case of Slavuj and Perenić exemplifies how a lack of accountability reverberates across generations, demanding continued remembrance and justice.

Reference –

https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/europe/article/ifjblog-justice-for-missing-journalists-slavuj-and-perenic