Press releases

22. 04. 2022.

???source???: UNS

UNS, RTS Trade Union and SINOS: It Is Time for NATO to Be Held Accountable for the Murder of 16 RTS Employees

On the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the murder of 16 media workers in the NATO bombing of RTS, the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), the Trade Union of Radio Television of Serbia and the Union of Journalists of Serbia (SINOS) continue to stress that this most powerful military organization committed a war crime, introduced the practice of attacking the media in international conflicts, and nevertheless those responsible from the NATO structures were never held accountable before any court.

The organization Amnesty International said in a report drafted in 2000 that the NATO forces had committed serious violations of the laws of war, which resulted in the illegal killing of civilians, highlighting the killing of 16 RTS media workers and qualifying it as a war crime.

“At the time of the bombing, technicians and other production staff were working in the building. It is estimated that at least 120 civilians were working in the building at the time of the attack. At least 16 civilians were killed and 16 others were wounded”, the report of this organization stating that NATO hit the target it aimed at reads.

The same report also quoted former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as saying that RTS was bombed because it broadcast footage of civilian casualties that was also taken over by the Western media, which, according to him, weakened support for the war within the NATO alliance.

“We were aware that these images would backlash and that there would be instinctive sympathy for the victims of the campaign”, Blair told the BBC.

The Amnesty International report also indicates that there was no warning from NATO that “a concrete attack on the RTS headquarters was inevitable”.

“NATO officials in Brussels told Amnesty International that they did not issue a specific warning because it would put the pilots at risk”, the report reads.

UNS, the Trade Union of RTS and SINOS believe that it is high time that those in NATO who ordered and executed this attack should be held responsible for this war crime.

RTS workers killed by the NATO bombs: Jelica Munitlak (27), make-up artist, Ksenija Bankovic (27), video mixer, Darko Stoimenovski (25), exchange technician, Nebojša Stojanovic (26), master technician, Dragorad Dragojevic (27), security worker, Dragan Tasic (29), electrician, Aleksandar Deletic (30), cameraman, Slavisa Stevanovic (32), technician, Sinisa Medic (32), program designer, Ivan Stukalo (33), technician, Dejan Markovic (39), security worker, Milan Joksimovic (47), security worker, Branislav Jovanovic (50), technician in master, Milovan Jankovic (59), precision mechanic, Tomislav Mitrovic (61), program director, and Slobodan Jontic (54), installer.