OSCE Mission to Skopje marks International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists

SKOPJE, 2 November 2018 – The OSCE Mission to Skopje marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists in Skopje today by launching a guidebook on safety of journalists while covering critical events.

The guidebook aims to bridge the communications gap between journalists and the authorities and includes recommendations for increasing the safety of journalists.

The event is co-organized with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Association of Journalists, whose president, Naser Selmani, stated that “Impunity for violence against journalists incites self-censorship of media.”

Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje Clemens Koja said that all too often in the OSCE region, journalists face retribution for simply doing their jobs, while crimes against them go unpunished: “Impunity is poisonous and unacceptable - it leads to self-censorship, limiting the space for free media and ideas and opinions to be shared widely.”

“As a Mission but also as the OSCE as a whole, we will continue to call upon state authorities to uphold their international obligations and OSCE commitments to protect journalists and media workers, and to promptly, thoroughly, impartially and effectively investigate alleged crimes against them and bring the perpetrators to justice,” said Koja.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski, said: “The evident commitment of the Interior Ministry since June 2017 to clear the cases of attacks on journalists must be emphasized. During this period all registered physical attacks on journalists were cleared. Precisely, clearing of the cases is a basic prerequisite for dealing with this phenomenon.”