RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS DETAINED IN KOSOVO WHILE FILMING FOOTAGE ABOUT ORTHODOX CHURCHES

In Serbia – September 2016

A group of Russian journalists from theNews Front agency has been detained in Kosovo, the news agency’s director Konstantin Knyrik told Interfax.

“The head of the News Front Serbian editorial office, citizen of Russia Oxana Sazonova, as well as freelance cameraman Sergey Belous were detained by Kosovo’s police while filming footage about Orthodox churches located in its territory, as well as about how the Albanians and the Serbs live side by side in the region. The journalists planned to film a documentary about Kosovo,” Knyrik said.

Sazonova and Belous were detained in the village of Velika Hoca and were then taken to Pristina, he said.

“The journalists were accused of violating the rules for staying in Kosovo. Their video equipment has been confiscated, and they are not being allowed to get in touch with their family and Russia’s diplomatic mission in Serbia,” he said.

A lawyer has been sent to help the detained journalists, Knyrik said.

“They have tentatively been accused of ‘illegally crossing the border’, a charge which carries a fine of 2,500 euros or a year in prison,” he said.