OSCE media freedom representative welcomes Skopje authorities’ decriminalization of libel

VIENNA, 14 November 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today commended the government and Parliament in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for decriminalizing defamation.

As the first step in  a wider effort to strengthen media freedom, the parliament adopted on 12 November a new civil law regulating insult and defamation and removed sanctions for speech offences from the Criminal Code.

“This is a courageous and much-needed step by the authorities to start creating a safer and freer working environment for journalists and media, particularly keeping in mind the high number of criminal defamation cases currently pending before courts,” Mijatović said. “Journalists must be able to perform their jobs and encourage debate on issues of public interest without fear of criminal sanctions or undue civil damages.”

She emphasized that the country has taken a positive step forward but cautioned that much had to be done to create a truly free environment for media.

“I hope that now the government will embark on tackling other challenges to media freedom, such as media pluralism, independence of the public service broadcaster and broadcast regulator and transparency of media ownership,” Mijatović said.