Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has reacted after the arrest of a cameraman on Wednesday, stating that some journalists have endangered the safety of her daughters.
In a statement published on social media, Osmani emphasized that for five years in a row her daughters have attended the "Ismail Qemali" public school in Pristina, despite the major infrastructural and security challenges at that institution.
The President stated that, although the safety of her children has been assessed as high risk by the authorities, some journalists have published images of her daughters, their location, classes and daily routine, exposing them to the risk of attacks, threats or even kidnapping.
She warned of taking every legal measure to protect her children from "repeated harassment" and actions she considers dangerous and illegal.
Full reaction:
REACTION TO THE CONTINUOUS, ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS HURRICANE THAT CERTAIN MEDIA ARE PERMITTING TO MY MINOR DAUGHTER DAUGHTER
For five years, my daughters have attended the public school "Ismail Qemali" in Prishtina. I am eternally grateful to their primary school teacher, who, like every other student, has ensured that our daughters learn to the fullest and take the first, safe steps towards their professional development. I am also grateful to the rest of the school staff and the school leadership for their cooperation with the parents.
Over the past five years, like other students at this school, my daughters have faced problems with sewage, water, electricity and heating outages, total blockage of toilets, lack of cleaning for months, lack of security at school (with about 4,000 students in the school, about 40 students in a class), confiscation of dangerous tools from some students, and what not.
But never, some so-called journalists (you would be shocked to know what illegal activity they are engaged in, according to our security institutions), have ever written that the President of the country sends her children to a public school in Kosovo, despite the great challenges that this school faced. They have never written about many other politicians, and especially about the many journalists who send their children to private schools, both inside and outside the country.
The only thing some of these so-called journalists did was endanger the safety of my daughters, who went to public school every day, by publishing their location, their classes, unauthorized recordings of their faces, without any prior permission, despite their minor age, and the fact that, as the law provides and as has been the case with other presidents' families, the police are present. The same, unauthorized recordings of minor children, they attempted to do today.
Of course, the police are present, because they are required to do so by law, and according to the police's own assessment, my daughters fall into the high-risk category. I did not draft these laws and I did not make this risk assessment. This practice exists everywhere in the world.
But what is clear is that a significant part of this danger is caused precisely by some of these so-called journalists. In which democratic country does the exposure and endangerment of children's lives fall within the framework of freedom of expression? In none.
Minor children, whoever they may be, are not subjects of public political interest, but unauthorized images and recordings of them in private circumstances pose a risk of attacks, threats, and eventual kidnappings, making their routines and locations public - despite the police's assessment that such a thing is contrary to security regulations.
Therefore, I will take every legal measure to protect my children from these so-called journalists, who do not intend to inform the public, but to endanger the lives of children who are not at fault. These unauthorized recordings, often to the point of persecution, create not only physical danger for children, but also psychological danger, with long-term consequences.
The change in the school's location was made due to problems caused by the high level of risk and due to the change in the location where we live, while the "Ismail Qemali" school is now very far from our residence.
Finally, as President I have no single competence in matters related to the education system, except to give suggestions – which I have done repeatedly. They fall exclusively within the competence of the local (municipality) and central (government) levels. This does not mean that efforts and improvements have not been made, but the challenges are still enormous and ongoing.
