We are appalled by last night’s threat against our colleague Borjan Jovanovski and his family. The anonymous delivery of a funerary wreath to his home is undoubtedly a cowardly act of intimidation and a morbid attempt to silence his voice of criticism; an attempt made by people whose perception is clouded by hatred and desire for skirmish with their opponents.
Every day, we are witnessing the constant attacks, labeling and threats against journalists, civil society activists, students, high school students, professors and all the citizens who disagree with the policies of this government. The verbal attacks are often accompanied by threats for physical confrontation with the opponents.
Last night’s act of intimidation of Borjan Jovanovski and his family shows that these threats can actually turn into physical violence, and even into a direct threat to the life of free-thinking citizens in this country.
Therefore, we are calling for an immediate termination of the smear campaign against the critics and opponents of this Government, and we are urging the relevant institutions to immediately find the intimidators and those who gave them the orders, and bring them to justice.
Today, in support of our colleague Jovanovski, and in support of the efforts for Macedonia to be a country where citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms are respected, we will gather in front of the Government building and express our indignation against this horrific threat and intimidation of freedom of thought in the country.
Signatories:
NGO Infocenter, September 8, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Metamorphosis, Media Development Center, Civil – Center for Freedom, Foundation Open Society – Macedonia, Contemporary Arts Center – Skopje, FORUM-CSID, Front for freedom of expression, OKNO, Macedonian Center for European Training, LGBT Support Center, Coalition “Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities”, Biljana Bejkova, Vladimir Vangelov, Marjan Zabrcanec, Ines Efremova, Dragana Mitrovic, Verica Mitrovic, Damir Neziri, Emrah Rexhepi, Slavica Indjevska, Filip Stojanovski, Kire Bebedjakov, Bardhyl Jashari, Krste Djidrov, Eli Manchevska, Xhabir Derala, Katerina M. Hristovska, Biljana Jordanovska, Jasna Andonovska, Filip Jovanovski, Simona Spirovska, Damjan Zdravev, Ivana Vaseva, Zharko Trajanovski, Dimche Velev, Elena Simonoska, Viki Mladenova, Biljana Ginova, Sonja Ismail, Xhelal Hodjic, Kristina Lelovac, Nikola Ristevski (Shindre) Dejan Georgievski, Natasha Boshkovska, Vasko Lazarevski, Elizabeta Sekirarska, Gjorgje Jovanovic, Nikola Gelevski, Violeta Gligoroska, Kiril Mickovski, Bojan Maricic, Zizo Ljamkovski, Sasha Velagic, Zlatko Mitevski, Jasminka Golubovska, Viktor Aleksovski, Pavle Bogoevski, Dejan Ristov, Vladimir Hristovski, Kocho Andonovski, Elisaveta Bejkova, Marina Trajkova, Ana Chupeska.
Source: NGO InfoCentre
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