The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of detained Macedonian freelance journalist Zoran Bozinovski in a letter to the country’s President and public prosecutor. Zoran Bozinovski – a freelance journalist and founder of the online media Burevensik.org is detained in Macedonia since 21 April, after his extradition from Serbia, where he had spent another 18 months detained. The IFJ and the EFJ condemned the continued detention of the journalist who the Macedonian authorities accused of espionage, criminal association and blackmail. In the letter, the IFJ states: “The arrest of a journalist for criminal activities without…

A journalist and four photo reporters were gravely injured by armed police forces on 13 April in the capital, Skopje, while covering an anti-government rally, IFJ and EFJ Macedonian affiliates SSNM and ZNM reported. The protests were sparked by President Gjorge Ivanov’s dual announcement of early elections and a halt to the inquiry into the wiretapping scandal that broke in February 2015 when it was alleged the government was illegally wiretapping over 20,000 people including journalists. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Skopje, demanding the President either revoke his decision or resign. The Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and…

The European Federations of Journalists (EFJ) and its members from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey (in picture) spoke out against media violations in their countries and call for more actions in a conference held on 4 November in Brussels by the European Commission (DG NEAR) to highlight the media freedom situation and progress made in Western Balkans and Turkey. A high-level meeting, the “Speak Up conference on Freedom of Expression and Media in the Western Balkans and Turkey” was kicked off by the European Commissioner in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations, Mr Johannes Hahn. Unfortunately, hardly any progress is echoed by…

“For the first time in my life I saw my colleagues – photographers and journalists – crying because of the situation”. Macedonian photographer Georgi Licovski, member of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM-ZNM), an EFJ affiliate, told TIME magazine he was moved, after spending the day taking pictures at the border from Greece to Macedonia, on Friday 21 August. He added that it was also the first time he has cried while working. Hundreds of refugees trying to cross the border clashed with police lines, just a day after Macedonia closed the border. Georgi Licovski said to TIME magazine there were…

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…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) strongly condemn the attack on journalist Sashe Ivanovski by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Vladimir Peshevski, on 15 July. The EFJ demands the Macedonian authorities to bring the attacker to justice. Ivanovski is a journalist working for an online portal. According to media reports, Ivanovski was attacked while he was questioning Mr. Peshevski on a recent wiretapping scandal in Macedonia. The attack was recorded and widely reported in the media in Macedonia. The EFJ says, “Such behaviours towards journalists are utterly unacceptable. Violence against journalists…

Tomislav Kezarovski, the investigative journalist at the daily Nova Makedonija, had been in detention and then under house arrest since 28 May 2013 for an article he wrote in 2008 for Reporter 92 magazine in which he allegedly revealed the identity of a witness in a murder case. Kezarovski was invited to speak in the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) held in Budva, Montenegro on 2 June. In his speech, Kezarovski highlighted the challenges he and his fellow colleagues face in Macedonia as journalists. He also thanked the EFJ and the journalist community in Europe for their solidarity during his…

In a meeting with delegates of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Friday 20 March 2015, the EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr. Johannes Hahn, has called for more progress made on press freedom in the West Balkans and Turkey. Commissioner Hahn expressed his concerns about media freedom in West Balkans and Turkey and pointed out that it was not satisfactory to see these countries receiving the same critical comments every year. He confirmed that the Commission considers media freedom as a fundamental right and as a key element in the transformation of countries into democratic…

Macedonian government stands accused of tapping the phones of over 20,000 citizens, including more than 100 journalists. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Macedonian affiliates, the Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia(ZNM), expressed grave concerns about the publicly announced allegations of the unauthorised mass surveillance of journalists and citizens. Zoran Zaev, leader of the center-left opposition party (Social Democratic Union of Macedonia – SDSM), has released yesterday many details on the mass wire-tapping of more than 100 Macedonian journalists for more than three years. “This violation of privacy directly affects…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), have today demanded in a joint letter to Macedonian Prime Minister, Mr. Nicola Gruevski, the review of the Macedonian journalist Tomislav Kezarovsi’s two year jail sentence. The reporter, sentenced allegedly for revealing the identity of a witness in a murder case, was recently granted release from prison on health grounds until next 18 February, which IFJ and EFJ find insufficient. By a public letter, they called on the Macedonian authorities to reconsider Kezarovski’s innocence and to grant him the permanent release. (Photo credit: Tomislav Georgiev.)

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with their members in Macedonia the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM) and the Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), have today declared insufficient the temporary release of the investigative journalist Tomislav Kezarovski and called again on the national court to reconsider his innocence. Around 3,000 demonstrators gathered today from midday onwards in Skopje to denounce the two year jail sentence that the Macedonian Court had imposed last week on Kezarovski allegedly for revealing the identity of a witness in a murder case.…

Update (16/01/2015): Tomislav Kezarovski has just been put in jail this Friday evening The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today expressed deep concern about the sentencing of Macedonian journalist Tomislav Kezarovski to two years in prison by the Skopje Court of Appeal. Kezarovksi, an investigative journalist at the daily Nova Makedonija, has been in detention and then under house arrest since 28 May 2013 for an article he wrote in 2008 for Reporter 92 magazine in which he allegedly revealed the identity of a witness in a murder case. The Court of Appeal lowered today the sentence of the Primary…

On 18/11/2014, a conference entitled “Media Integrity Matters – Reclaiming public service values in the Western Balkans media: How should the European Union Respond ?” has been organized in Brussels by MEP Tanja Fajon. The event was a follow-up to the publication of the book “Media integrity matters” in June 2014, comprising the research conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. The study aims at addressing the obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe/Western Balkans by pointing out corrupt relations and practices in media policy, media ownership and financing,…

It is essential that international organizations not only have press freedom as key issues, but also pursues effectively the abuses that are taking place and put pressure on the authorities to correct those attacks on press freedom, writes Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, President of the Danish Union of Journalists and EFJ President. By Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård I’m just back from Macedonia where I had the opportunity to visit a journalist whose life is in ruins because he does not want to disclose his sources. The European Federation of Journalists sent a letter to the Macedonian Ambassador to the European Union. Similar…

Journalists unions from across the former Soviet Union and South East Europe gathered to debate the status of journalism, union organising and violations and safety of journalists rights across the region. The meeting was the third joint IFJ / EFJ meeting in the region to build greater collaboration and support for journalists unions across Europe. Discussions focused on labour rights, new forms of organising and recruitment, union campaigning, legal defense and new digital tools. The meeting started by recalling the many hundreds of journalists that have suffered violence and persecution for their work since the 2013 conference in Kiev and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called for authorities in Macedonia to drop all charges against the journalist Tomislav Kezarovski – who has now been held under house arrest for over a year. In 2013, Kezarovski was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison by a tribunal in Skopje for writing investigative articles for the magazine Reporter 92. He is currently under house arrest, unemployed and living in very difficult conditions. The EFJ has sent a letter to Andrej Lepavcov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union, calling for Macedonian authorities to bring an end to all…