Baton Haxhiu

Baton Haxhiu (born April 11, 1967 in Drenas, Kosovo)

Background He majored in sociology at University of Pristina, but his studies were interrupted when the government closed the university in 1991; he then continued studying with the city's underground academic movement. He worked as a section editor for Koha, a weekly Albanian-language magazine. He later became editor-in-chief of Koha Ditore, a Prishtina daily newspaper. According to the UK newspaper The Independent, under Haxhiu's management, Koha Ditore became "the leading Albanian-language source of information and of critical comment in Kosovo". On March 23, the front page of Koha Ditore carried the headline "Nato, Just Do It", quoting the slogan of Nike shoes along with the Nike Swoosh. When Haxhiu reached the country, he resumed publishing Koha Ditore. Despite the threat, the paper continued to publish.

Later journalism Haxhiu later became the editor of the Gazeta Express. In July 2008, during the war crimes trial of Ramush Haradinaj, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found Haxhiu guilty of contempt of court for revealing the name of a protected witness in a newspaper article, and fined him US$10,000. Haxhiu appealed the verdict in September, but judges ruled that he had appealed outside the permitted window. He is currently the head of Albanian Post, and makes appearances on Albanian-speaking television as a columnist.

Personal life Haxhiu has a wife and two sons.