Continued detention of journalist in Skopje unacceptable and appalling, say OSCE and UN representatives

VIENNA, 29 August 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, said today in a letter to the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that continued detention in Skopje of journalist Tomislav Kezarovski for another 30 days is unacceptable.

“Imprisonment of journalists for their writing is not acceptable in a democratic society. This is the only case in the Western Balkan region where a journalist is held in prison pending trial. I am concerned both by his arrest and excessively lengthy detention, as they negatively impact on media freedom in your country,” Mijatović said. 

Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression said: “As I stated after my recent visit to the country, Tomislav Kezarovski should be released immediately. Excessive measures such as his prolonged detention only serve to intimidate journalists and deeply hurt the independence of the media. Democracies can never work properly when critical voices are silenced.”

Tomislav Kezarovski, an investigative journalist at the daily Nova Makedonija, is currently being detained in relation to an article he wrote in 2008 for Reporter 92 magazine in which he revealed the identity of a witness in a murder case. The OSCE Representative already expressed concern of his detention in in May 2013.

Previous statement of the OSCE Representative on the case of Tomislav Kezarovski: https://www.osce.org/fom/102198