28.05.2019, Belgrade.
Personal data belonging to Mikhail Krasnoshchekov, a Russian UN mission member in the region (UNMIK) who was detained in Kosovo, were published by local media on May 28, Rossa Primavera News Agency reported.
The picture of the Russian citizen’s driver’s license was published by the Insajderi news portal. In addition, a video was posted on the Indeksonline website, where Krasnoshchekov enters an ambulance car accompanied by paramedics with someone swearing behind the scenes.
Mikhail Krasnoshchekov was detained on May 28 during a special operation by the Kosovo special forces. He was injured in the course of the detention. The head of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, explained that the Russian citizen had been detained for resisting Kosovo law enforcement authorities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted immediately to the detention of a Russian citizen who has diplomatic immunity. The Russian Embassy in Serbia demanded his immediate release and the prosecution of all the perpetrators.
The Russian citizen is now released.
The Kosovo special forces’ operation was aimed at the residents of municipalities with a predominantly Serbian population. In response to this operation, the Serbian army was put on alert.
The British Times used the practice of publishing personal data in relation to the journalists working in the UK at the Russian Sputnik bureau, following the example of the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets, where data on people allegedly posing a threat to the state are posted.
Such actions provoked sharp criticism both in Russia and abroad. In December 2018 at the Milan meeting, the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers adopted a document on the safety of journalists. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, explained that this decision was caused by concerns about the arbitrary or unlawful intrusion into journalists’ privacy, which could pose a threat to their security.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
