Macedonia Journalists to Seek Justice in Strasbourg

Macedonia's journalists union is taking the case of the expulsion of reporters from parliament in December 2012 to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.

It decided on this move after the top court in Macedonia ruled that their expulsion from the chamber by police had been done “for their own safety”.

This was because objects were flying around the chamber in their direction.

The head of ZNM, Naser Selmani, described the court's decision as scandalous.

The Constitutional Court was "encouraging institutions in future to restrict the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media in an even more drastic manner”, Selmani said.

The events of December 24, 2012 - when government parties passed a budget for 2013 in the space of a few minutes, after opposition MPs and journalists were expelled from the chamber by police - caused a lengthy political crisis that was later resolved with an EU-led deal.

Journalists had hoped that the Constitutional Court would rule that their expulsion was against the law and breached constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of expression.

According to Selmani, it was incorrect that the safety of journalists had been jeopardized on the day in question, or that hard objects had been thrown at them.

“If that was so, why were legislators from the ruling parties also not removed from the plenary hall?” Selmain asked.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski denied masterminding a crackdown on independent media outlets, insisting that concerns about media freedom in Macedonia were “hot air.

“The story about media freedom is hot air, in the absence of a strong and creative opposition that would engage in a fight on real issues," he...