By Xhabir Deralla 

President of VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski, on the social networks (February 26, 2023), engaged in an inappropriate and rude verbal attack against me personally and several internet portals that “dared” to report news regarding his property situation. In the post, he threatens and demands that I apologize within 24 hours, that is, the media he mentions in his post.

In his post, Mickoski mentions (in a screenshot) five Macedonian media outlets (Brif, 24 Info, Frontline, Nova TV and Index) that he associates with his political opponents completely unfoundedly, without arguments, which is entirely unacceptable, and at the same time also associated them with only one person, by name and last name, and that is me. The least that can be said is that by this he is consciously and maliciously misleading the public.

Not to mention that Mickoski carried out this brutal attack because of a reposted article. Not mine, an author’s text, but a reposted piece. According to the law, for articles that are published, the author, that is, the source is the one that is responsible. In this case, that’s not me, nor the media in which I have some kind of function. When someone engages in such operations, the least they can is consult with professionals.

This post on the social networks is unfitting for a politician and president of a parliamentary political party in the country. For sure.

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The President of VMRO-DPMNE, Mickoski, engages in personal confrontation and attacks me with slander and threats. But I’m not the only target. In his post, he tries to discredit the media and to threaten them. With such behavior, Mickoski directly threatens freedom of speech and media freedoms. This attack is not aimed only against the editorials that he unfoundedly mentions in his post, but also against all others that would dare to say something that he or his party don’t like.

Familiar, quite familiar – we’ve been through all that. Unfortunately, such behavior isn’t just our past, but also bitter present.

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CIVIL – Center for Freedom today has called on journalist associations, regulatory and self-regulatory bodies, as well as civil society organizations for protection of human rights and freedoms, to condemn and reject such inappropriate behavior by the President of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski. And I personally join thus call. I hope there will be a reaction.

This situation is nothing new. The public lynching, hate speech and the threats against the media that are being placed by radical political groups and parties in our country have been lasting for years, not to say decades.

In this case, the very President of the political party VMRO-DPMNE also joined the public lynching!

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Mickoski is exerting public pressure, is putting me and my colleagues in danger of retribution and is endangering our security, honor and reputation, both personally and to the profession we are in engaged in.

He is threatening with lawsuits as well, with which he additionally shows that he is prepared to fight with all means against freedom of speech and media freedoms.

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This is what I replied to the lawyer of the President of VMRO-DPMNE, who sent a request for an apology and withdrawal of the text:

Dear Mr. Mickoski,

In regard to your Facebook status published on February 26, 2023, on your profile Hristijan Mickoski, I hereby inform you of the following:

Concerning the article published by the portal INDEX (index.mk), titled “Mickoski Bought and Renovated a House in Kozle Worth One Million Euros”, in your Facebook post you mention me by full name in the context of the statement:
“…the media close to DUI (a person employed in Artan Grubi’s cabinet) and SDSM (Xhabir Deralla) should apologize to me for the lies they published…”

Unfortunately, Mr. Mickoski, your request for an apology from me is completely unfounded, as I am not the author of the article, and therefore I cannot apologize for content authored by others, which you refer to as “lies.” I also cannot apologize on behalf of the portal INDEX (as the author/source of the article), nor on behalf of the media outlets you mentioned.

On the contrary, due to your mention of my full name in your Facebook post of February 26, 2023, in a negative context, and in the interest of truth and objective public information — with the aim of preventing further damage to my reputation and dignity through the publication of the above-mentioned defamation — I hereby request that you issue an immediate apology for your defamatory statement, and that both your apology and this rebuttal be published on your Facebook page/profile Hristijan Mickoski.

Otherwise, I will be forced to seek protection of my honor and reputation through legal means.

I await the publication of your apology and this rebuttal in full.

Respectfully,
Xhabir Deralla

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So, not only is there no reason for me to apologize to Mickoski, but rather I am demanding an apology from him. Honestly, I don’t expect to be positively surprised. But you never know…

Translation: N. Cvetkovska