Journalist says Kosovo prime minister threatened him

Journalist says Kosovo prime minister threatened him

Kajtazi posted on Facebook that he and Mustafa spoke on the phone on Sunday afternoon, when the prime minister reportedly asked: "Wasn't there anything else for you to other than deal with my brother?"

According to Kajtazi, Mustafa added, "My brother has throat cancer, you son of a dog, you will pay heavily for this," before hanging up.

Beta agency is reporting on Monday that Kajtazi asked a Kosovo government spokesperson for "an explanation" regarding Mustafa's behavior, but that the spokesperson said they were "abroad, and unable to contact the prime minister."

Earlier, Mustafa confirmed the veracity of the report about his brother seeking asylum in France and Germany.

"That is correct. I was later informed that my brother asked to stay in order to receive treatment for a serious illness, that he could not get in Kosovo," Mustafa wrote on Facebook, adding that his brother had surgery in Tirana and was in a serious condition.

He also said that his "grandchildren and other relatives" had left Kosovo in late 2014.

"That speaks about the members of my family sharing the destiny of other citizens of Kosovo. That is why as prime minister I am engaged in finding a solution, to liberalize visas, to secure investments for creating jobs, to improve the health care system, so that as few as possible citizens seek treatment abroad," Mustafa said.

According to Kajtazi's website, Mustafa's brother and other family members reached the EU using "the same illegal migrant route via Serbia-Hungary border as thousands of other Kosovo citizens." According to the documents published on the website, the brother, Ragip Mustafa, first applied for asylum in France where he was turned down, and later, in June 2015, made another attempt in Germany.

According to reports, he is now back in Kosovo.

Opposition Self-Determination party leader Visar Imeri reacted to the alleged threat Mustafa made against the journalist by saying it was "a very dangerous thing" in an "undemocratic country" such as Kosovo.

Kajtazi in the past received multiple awards for his investigative articles published in Pristina-based Albanian language daily Koha Ditrore, where he was employed until he recently founded the insajderi.com website.