Cvetkovska and IRL on 16 May 2021 published a story with the title “Conspiracy against the air”, where Angjushev, the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia was mentioned. Angjushev brought the case, alleging that the story amounted to ‘insult and defamation’. The court ordered Cvetkovska to pay €1 damages and meet both sides legal costs – a sum that will run into tens of thousands of Euros.
Throughout the proceedings, IFJ affiliates in North Macedonia, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (АЈM) and the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) has argued that journalists must not be treated as a public evil, because they work for the benefit of the public. AJM and SSNM allege that the action against Cvetkovska amounts to a SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) – or the legal bullying of a journalist with the intention of preventing them from doing their work.
This ruling represents a failure of the judge to place the public interest, the interest of the citizens over the private interest of a powerful businessman.
President of the SSNM, Pavle Belovski says: “Journalism is a public good, and the job of every journalist is to discover system malfunctions. The court decision against IRL is a typical example of disregard of the public interest. We regret that the court accepted this typical SLAPP suit that is precisely being brought up for intimidating and demotivating the journalists.”
Tim Dawson, Deputy General Secretary of the IFJ says: “It is the duty of journalists to expose malfeasance, corruption and incompetence. Sadly, those who find their activities exposed increasingly abuse our legal systems to bully and silence their critics. The case of IRL and its editor-in-chief Sashka Cvetkovska a case of just this.”
This court ruling joins the growing global tally of instances where freedom of expression has been damaged by the unwarranted legal intimidation and financial exhaustion of journalists.