The right to privacy is guaranteed by the supreme legal act – the Constitution of North Macedonia. We’re sickened to be witnessing the ‘Public Room’ case again, a case in which the privacy of thousands of women and girls is flagrantly violated – humiliation, sexism and violence that can have far-reaching and long-lasting consequences on their lives, President Stevo Pendarovski told MIA.

The head of state underlines that violence against women and girls, in any form – mental, physical, sexual, is punishable under the law.

“I urge competent authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this case, and prosecute and convict the offenders as appropriate under the law. Responsibility must be taken as soon as possible.”

Failure to take immediate action may lead to creating a culture of impunity for crimes that destroy the lives of thousands of victims. As a society, each of us must show solidarity and support to the victims, and not allow double victimization. Take action now!, Pendarovski told MIA, commenting on the ‘Public Room’ case.

The case reemerged in the media these past few days after it was reported that over 5,600 members of the chat group on the Telegram social network are sharing photos, social network profile pages, personal data, addresses and phone numbers of girls.

The MoI told MIA on Wednesday that the cyber crime and digital forensics unit is taking measures to clear up the case.

“We’ll further intensify efforts to establish direct communication with the Telegram platform, which has thus far demonstrated complete closure for cooperation with the governments of any country. Of course, we undertake all other activities available to us to clear up this case,” MoI said.

The first such group on the social media was uncovered a year ago, when about 7,000 users were found to share explicit photos of girls, including minors. Police said at the time that the ‘Public Room’ chat group was shut down after appropriate measures were taken.