SKOPJE, 19.06.2018 – The Association of Journalists of Macedonia strongly condemned the physical attacks on journalists and cameramen on the protest against the contract for the name dispute, which happened yesterday in front of the Parliament. The fact that dissatisfied citizens are still pouring their revolt on journalists is very worrying. We call the Ministry of Interior to urgently identify the attackers and bring them to justice.
AJM also protests against the detention of Infomax journalist Borislav Stoilkovic, for allegedly refusing to legitimize himself and for filming the faces of police officers.
The explanation of the MOI that they detained Stoilkovic because he refused to legitimize himself is strange, because the footage while he is being detained clearly shows his journalistic press card.
Filming the police officers on protests cannot be the basis for detaining journalists because such a ban is not written in any law. In addition, the recording of police behavior in protests is of high public interest in order to record possible abuses.
The obligation of the authorities is to protect the journalists and provide them with safe work conditions while reporting from protests.
AJM condemns the behavior of journalist Stoilkovic, who, instead of reporting from the protest, became a direct participant in it. We remind our colleague that hate speech and calling for violence are not related to the journalistic profession. It is not freedom of speech, but instead it is its most brutal negation.