The withdrawal of this bill is required in order to prevent the invasion of citizens’ privacy in the Republic of Macedonia. Some of the reasons for seeking withdrawal are listed below:

  • This bill violates the fundamental postulates of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, in particular Article 17 which guarantees the inviolability of the freedom and secrecy of correspondence and all other forms of communication, because it allows an exception from this principle without a court decision, as well as Article 25 which guarantees the respect and protection of privacy of personal and family life, dignity and reputation.
  • The bill violates the European Convention on Human Rights and other international agreements ratified by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. 
  • The bill does not comply with the provisions of Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. 
  • The bill groundlessly expands the basis for the monitoring of citizens’ communications, contrary to the norms established with the Law on Personal Data Protection, the Law on Interception of Communications and the Law on Criminal Procedure. 
  • A number of imprecise formulations are being introduced with the proposed amendments, creating legal opportunities for arbitrary and unlimited use of eavesdropping and other forms of interception of electronic communications, without the possibility to be controlled according to the principles of transparency and accountability.
  • The bill allows the Ministry to have a “constant and direct access” to the electronic communications networks and facilities of the public communications networks operators and providers of public communications services, as well as “conditions for independent downloading of traffic data”, which would make the Republic of Macedonia one of the few, or probably the only country in the world in which a state authority has such powers, without the possibility for external control .
  • Obliging the operators “to provide the appropriate equipment and interface at their own expense” for monitoring and storage of communications will cause significant expenditures for their operations which can lead to an increase of the cost of their communications services for consumers and on the other hand is an opportunity for the operators that have significant market power to improve their dominant position on the market. 
  • The process of preparation of the draft amendments has been non-transparent and non-inclusive, without the participation of relevant institutions (the European Union’s Delegation to Macedonia, the Directorate for Personal Data Protection), as well as the expert public, the private and civil sector.

Please find enclosed the following documents:

Initiators

List of NGOs and individuals who have supported this initiative:

Individuals that have voiced their support via e-mail

  • Natasha Jovanova
  • Nikola Gelevski
  • Kristina Hadzi – Vasileva
  • Gordan Kalajdziev
  • Ane Tuntev
  • Jasmina Dzurovska
  • Nikola Tupancheski
  • Suzana Loshkovska
  • Darko Janevski
  • Ferid Muhic
  • Avni Aziri
  • Abdulselam Kanzoski
  • Aleksandar Gelevski
  • Jovan Jovcheski
  • Slobodan Jakjoski
  • Jasna Koteska
  • Vasko Cacanoski
  • Iva Mihajlovska
  • Gordana Buzharovska
  • Ivana Dragshic

…and more than 240 supporters of the Facebook cause (until 11.6.2010, 15:00), whose names will be added in the final version of the document

If you support this initiative, please express your support by sending an e-mail to info (at) metamorphosis.org.mk by June 10 (Thursday), 2010, 12:00, and indicate whether you are writing on behalf of an organization, institution or as an individual. You can also support the initiative through the Facebook cause:

You can post your comments here, without being censored

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