Press releases
23. 04. 2026.
UNS, RTS Trade Union and SINOS: NATO Must Be Held Accountable for the Killing of 16 RTS Employees
The Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), the Trade Union of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), and the Independent Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS), ahead of the commemoration of the 27th anniversary of the killing of 16 media workers in the NATO bombing of RTS, once again stress that this military alliance committed a war crime and established the practice of targeting media in international conflicts, and that despite this, no one within NATO structures has been held accountable.
UNS, the RTS Trade Union and SINOS state that it is high time that both those who ordered and those who carried out this war crime are brought to justice.
In a 2000 report by Amnesty International, it is stated that NATO forces committed serious violations of the laws of war, resulting in the unlawful killing of civilians. Among the highlighted cases is the killing of 16 RTS media workers, which was qualified as a war crime.
“At the time of the bombing, technicians and other production staff were working in the building. It is estimated that around 120 civilians were present in the building at the time of the attack. At least 16 civilians were killed and another 16 were injured,” the report states, noting that NATO struck the intended target.
The Amnesty International report also includes a quote from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said that RTS was bombed in part because it broadcast footage of civilian suffering, which was also picked up by Western media, thereby weakening support for the war within the NATO alliance.
“We were aware that those images would come back and that there would be an instinctive sympathy for the victims of the campaign,” Blair told the BBC.
The Amnesty International report also points out that there was no warning from NATO that a “specific attack on the RTS headquarters was imminent.”
“NATO officials in Brussels told Amnesty International that they did not issue a specific warning because it would have endangered the pilots,” the report states.
In the NATO bombing of RTS, on the night between April 22 and 23, 1999, the following were killed:
Jelica Munitlak (27), make-up artist; Ksenija Banković (27), video mixer; Darko Stoimenovski (25), exchange technician; Nebojša Stojanović (26), master control technician; Dragorad Dragojević (27), security worker; Dragan Tasić (29), electrician; Aleksandar Deletić (30), cameraman; Slaviša Stevanović (32), technician; Siniša Medić (32), program designer; Ivan Stukalo (33), technician; Dejan Marković (39), security worker; Milan Joksimović (47), security worker; Branislav Jovanović (50), master control technician; Milovan Janković (59), precision mechanic; Tomislav Mitrović (61), program director; and Slobodan Jontić (54), editor.
Jelica Munitlak (27), make-up artist; Ksenija Banković (27), video mixer; Darko Stoimenovski (25), exchange technician; Nebojša Stojanović (26), master control technician; Dragorad Dragojević (27), security worker; Dragan Tasić (29), electrician; Aleksandar Deletić (30), cameraman; Slaviša Stevanović (32), technician; Siniša Medić (32), program designer; Ivan Stukalo (33), technician; Dejan Marković (39), security worker; Milan Joksimović (47), security worker; Branislav Jovanović (50), master control technician; Milovan Janković (59), precision mechanic; Tomislav Mitrović (61), program director; and Slobodan Jontić (54), editor.
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