Paris, 12 September {No. 2000-85} - UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said he was appalled by news of the murder on September 10 in Vucitrn (Kosovo) of journalist Shefki Popova and expressed concern over the deteriorating situation for journalists in Kosovo. He reiterated his support, and that of UNESCO, for all those calling for an end to impunity for the perpetrators of acts of violence against journalists.

The Kosovar journalist Shefki Popova, who wrote for the Albanian-language daily Rilindja, was shot then stabbed by two attackers in Vucitrn, a city with a majority Albanian population 30km from Pristina. Popova is the first journalist to be killed since the United Nations has been in charge of the administration of Kosovo.

Koïchiro Matsuura said: "The murder of Shefki Popova can only appal all those who fight for freedom of expression and all those who dream of a Kosovo that has managed to bandage its wounds and that has space for dialogue. When the situation for journalists deteriorates in Kosovo - this murder is the unfortunate proof that it is so - it is the very future of Kosovo that deteriorates."

The Director-General also referred to the murder, on the night of September 9-10 in San Luis (Colombia), of Colombian journalist Carlos Restrepo Rocha, director of the daily Tangente: "This crime, whose motive and perpetrators are still unknown, brings to 10 the number of journalists murdered in Colombia this year. It is unacceptable to have to pay such a heavy price for the freedom of expression."

The Director-General added: "These murders - the latest in a long, long series - must lead us to increase our efforts aimed at bringing an end to the impunity that all too often characterises acts of violence carried out against journalists. In recent years, and throughout most of the world, professional media organizations have called on the authorities to do all they can to ensure that those responsible for such crimes are brought to justice and punished. In line with the resolution voted unanimously by the UNESCO General Conference in 1997, I call on our Member States to take all necessary measures to prevent such crimes, investigate them and punish them."