OSCE media rep calls on Skopje to investigate threats

OSCE media rep calls on Skopje to investigate threats

VIENNA -- Dunja Mijatovic has called on Macedonia's authorities to immediately investigate the death threat against the NOVA TV editor Borjan Jovanovski and his family.

The OSCE representative on freedom of the media issued a statement on Wednesday saying that "this horrendous act adds to the already fragile media environment situation in the country and sends yet another message that critical voices are to be silenced."

"Acts like these acts have a clear chilling effect on free media and are not acceptable in a democratic society," she added.

The OSCE statement specified that "on April 21, a funeral wreath with a message 'Final Farewell' was placed in front of Jovanovski's home in Skopje," and that the threat was reported to the police.

Mijatovic noted that the VMRO-DPMNE political party, the Journalists' Plenum, Macedonian Institute for Media, the Agency for Audio and Audio-visual Media Services, and both journalists associations AJM and MAN condemned the incident.

"I call on the authorities to launch an immediate and thorough investigation. For many years Jovanovski has been exposed to threats and widespread criticism for his critical reporting. The authorities need to show that there can be no impunity for such acts, and they should start with fully investigate this death threat and bring perpetrators to justice," the OSCE official said.

The statement also said that on April 22, journalist Zoran Bojarovski received death threats via Facebook and reported the incident to the police, with an investigation launched.

Mijatovic "called on the government to reverse the trend of deteriorating media freedom in the country."

"The recent...