AJM promoted the publication: Insult and defamation as part of media reforms

“Insult and defamation as part of the media reforms” is the title of the publication that was promoted today by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia. It provides a general overview of the situation in the area of insult and defamation in the period from the time when these crimes were decriminalized in 2012 to the present day.

The president of AJM – Mladen Cadikovski said that the aim of this publication is to give a general overview of the situation in the area of insult and defamation, but at the same time to remind the Government that the media, including the protection of the reputation, are an important part of reforms and the focus should be returned to that. The analysis will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice, which is supposed to propose amendments and changes to the Law on Civil Liability from defamation and insult in the direction of improvement of the text pointed out by Cadikovski.

The author, Dejan Georgievski, says that this analysis gives concrete recommendations which are in line with European practices for amending and changing the Law on Civil Liability from defamation and insult. This law, as well as other media reforms, must be returned to the government’s reform agenda.

“This is important, because slander can be abused as a means of pressuring journalists or ignoring debate on issues of exceptional public interest” – Georgievski said.

The document can be downloaded free of charge in three languages from the website of the AJM and printed editions will be available at the office of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia.

This activity is part of the project “Journalists’ Network for Media Freedoms in Macedonia”, funded by the EU.