European Federation of Journalists

Violence against journalists in Macedonia is escalating


The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM or ZNM), EFJ-IFJ affiliate, has issued a letter of concern (27/07/2015) addressed to intergovernmental institutions and non-governmental organisations regarding recent attacks against journalists in Macedonia. “Violence against journalists in Macedonia has escalated and taken dramatic proportions in the last several months. The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), over the period of four years, has registered 23 threats and physical attacks against journalists, of which half occurred in the first six months of this year, and the perpetrators have not been punished yet. The verbal death threats, the physical attacks and the destruction of private property of journalists have escalated with brutal attacks inflicting heavy bodily injuries in several cases”, writes Naser Selmani, President of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia.

In the list prepared by AJM, 11 of the 23 reported attacks against journalists have occurred in 2015. The AJM expressed strong concerns about the “practice of impunity towards violence against journalists” which negatively reflects on the poor state of freedom of expression and independence of media in Macedonia.

The EFJ-IFJ will report media freedom violation cases to the Council of Europe’s platform for the protection and safety of journalists and to the Mapping Media Freedom project supported by the European Commission.

Have a look to the full list of attacks against journalists in Macedonia prepared by the AJM :

Cases of Violation of Rights of Journalists Macedonia July 2015s

Photo : Screenshot of Macedonia from Mapping Media Freedom