CIVIL’s headquarters were the target of a break-in between June 18 and 20. The burglars broke the door at the back entrance of the organization’s headquarters, disabled the alarm and the two cameras and took the internet modem. Obviously, the burglars were mostly interested in the organization’s archive. They searched the documents in the folders with archival material and financial documentation. Visible material damage has also been inflicted.
This is a third greater incident in the last five years, whose target is CIVIL. The first incident took place right after the bloody events on April 27, 2017, when six laptops and hard discs with electronic documentation of the organization were stolen. In that attack, part of the physical archive was also damaged, and systematic browsing of notes in notebooks and folders of the organization’s team were also obvious.
The second incident took place at the end of June, 2020, in the midst of the monitoring of the early parliamentary elections. Then, CIVIL’s headquarters was vandalized, the board with the organization’s signs in the courtyard was turned over, and a shovel was put over it (the link is of a video from the press conference where the interpretation of that procedure is announced). The front door of the headquarters was damaged with a sharp object and the word Nazi was engraved on it. Garbage was thrown in front of the front door.
Like in the previous two, this case too was reported to the police.
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, at least not while the investigation is in progress, but I would like to use this opportunity to once again remind the public and the institutions about the great challenges that progressive organizations and editorial offices face. As to the documentation, we have no secrets. All data of our work is public, all it takes is to open our internet portals, and we are also open for every additional question. There is no need to break in, except if the goal is to send a different kind of a message” – wrote the President of CIVIL, Xhabir Deralla.
It is known that in the past ten and more years, CIVIL’s teams and the Editorial Office of Civil Media have been facing many pressures, slanders, hate speech and death threats. The motives are known, so are those ordering them. But they should know – we are not afraid. For us, the threats and pressure are a motive more to continue with work, uncompromisingly and loudly” – writes Deralla.
The Executive Office of CIVIL and the Editorial Office of Civil Media have continued with work without delay.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
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