SKOPJE, 20.12.2017 – The Association of Journalists of Macedonia, in cooperation with the European delegation and the French Embassy in Macedonia, yesterday presented the publication “Freedom of expression through the practice of the European Court for Human Rights” written by Dr. Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska. This publication analyzes judgments and cases of the European Court for Human Rights related to freedom of speech. It also analyzes the verdict on the case “Selmani and Others v. Republic of Macedonia”.
The author of the publication, Dr. Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, in the promotional speech stressed that freedom of expression is assumed and must be respected. “It is clearly prescribed where the State may limit the freedom of expression,” she said, adding that she hoped the publication will be beneficial both for journalistic and judicial profession.
On the promotion the European Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, Samuel Zbogar spoke aswell. According to him, freedom of expression means that opinions can be shared freely, but hate speech must be banned, and states must be protectors that guarantee this right. He emphasized that he expects readers of this publication in the future to be not only judges, but also all other stakeholders in the media sphere, such as journalists, politicians, civil society organizations, artists, etc.
The French Ambassador in Macedonia, Christian Thimonier, stressed the need and importance of such a publication “This book is important because it will remind you of the huge responsibility that you carry. It is a monument of the courage of some of the journalists, but also a monument to the lack of courage of some other actors,” he said.
The President of AJM Nasser Selmani thanked the European delegation and the French Embassy in Macedonia for their support for publishing this publication. Selmani said the goal of the publication is to improve the reporting of journalists, because only well-informed journalists about their rights and obligations do not violate the rights of others and they will not be self-censoring themselves, because of the fear that they will be prosecuted for the information released.
He said that the publication will help the institutions, which are obliged to provide a favorable ambience for journalists’ work. According to him, the publication should be a lesson for all that December 24th 2012 should never happen again.
You can find the publication on the following link.