By XHABIR DERALLA
The head of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, otherwise also a university professor and former energy advisor to former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and at one time also owner of several hydropower plants in the country, has again engaged in a personal confrontation with me on the social networks, this time encouraged by the first instance court decision ruling (partially) in his favor.
On June 20, he wrote:
This is what the shame of the lies of the government looks like, once again they have been condemned for slandering.
On the great Christian holiday of Lent, they rancampaigns with lies, insults and fabrications after who knows how many times in these five years against me and my family. They wanted to equate me with them and portray me as a political profiteer and criminal. For this purpose, SDSM and DUI involved all their media servants to insult me and the honor of my family with lies, fabrications and constructions. They thoughtthat this way they wouldgain some political points in a short time. They failed…, and today I received the first instancejudgment,and one of those media servants has been convicted of committing slander, by presenting untruths and has been obliged to publish the judgement in a daily newspaper at his expense.
www.frontline.mk has violated Article 8 of ECHR, as well as the Code of Journalists of Macedonia.
Perhaps a small consolation, but enough for personal satisfaction…
Post of Hristijan Mickoski’s Facebook profile, June20, 2023
Please pay attention to this text. I am not writing it for my sake. In this case, there are dangerous precedents that can have a long-term negative impact on the work of the media and on freedom of speech overall.
First and foremost, by commenting and citing an invalid judgement, Mickoski misleads the public that supposedly it is a done deal and “justice” is on his side. At the same time, he lies and threatens. He knows very well what he is doing, and moral is the least he cares about.
Allow me to try, in a few points, to warn about the dangers that are hiding behind this behavior of the head of VMRO-DPMNE and about the possible consequences to freedom of speech in our country in the future.
LOOK WHO’S TALKING?
I will start with the first sentence of his latest post against me.
This is what the shame of the lies of the government looks like, once again they have been condemned for slandering, he wrote.
How and why does Mickoski use the expression “the lies of the government”?
According to Mickoski, the media “naturally” belong to the government – he has inherited this from dictator Gruevski. Because when VMRO-DPMNE was in power, everything was part of theirprey. A captured state, controlled media, blackmailed and terrified people, embezzled money and property were part of the picture of our country for a bit more than a decade. At elections they “grabbed by the ears”. People, their souls, they bought or captured them with money, intimidation and violence.
Mickoski lives in a hermetically closed party matrix, he can’t even imagine that there could be something else that exists outside of it.
Let me use some of his expressions: This is how, actually, the humiliating continuation of a clique that doesn’t distinguish between media, civil society and government looks like.
Mickoski and his party have caused enormous damage by acting against key Macedonian processes over the past years. He leads a political party that will always be remembered as carrier of the regime that captured the state (2006-2016), the bloody attack on the Parliament (April 27, 2017), the obstructions to the Prespa process (2018-2019), the anti-European protests (July 2022), the blocking of the constitutional changes for continuing the EU integrations (2023) and many other infamous actions.
Today, his party occupies a large part of the parliamentary government, and has beenaspiring to be a prime minister for seven years now. Only he knows how he manages to put an equal sign between a journalist-editor and a representative of civil society. Such an equation, particularly in this case, is impossible, and anyone who is the least bit informed knows this. Some would say: Look who’s talking?
DIVINE STATUS
As with the first post on the social networks, with which he started the political –judicial hunt against me, the head of VMRO-DPMNE refers to religion. He simply doesn’t refrain from playing with the religious feelings of the citizens.
On the great Christian holiday of Lent, they ran campaigns with lies, insults and fabrications after who knows how many times in these five years against me and my family, he writes.
Why is it important to him that something was written about him on “a great Christian holiday”? Certainly, that is completely irrelevant in the whole context, but doeshave the goal to provoke hate speech on the basis of religion. He manipulates, though not very successfully, with the religious feelings of the citizens, in order to win over the sympathies of the public on his side and enjoy the “protection” of the religion.
The ultimate outcome of that message is that criticism against him is almost equal toblasphemy, and that he is a man of God. That syndrome isn’t new. Songs were sungabout his predecessor, and his coalition partners in speeches said that he was sent from heaven. Mickoski is still very far from such a divine status, but the ambition is apparent and clear.
WHO SHOULD APOLOGIZE?
The head of vmro says that he won a court case (in the first instance). At the same time, he uses lies, manipulated with facts, encourages hate speech, threatens and discredits.
It all began with a text that was conveyed in several portals, and in those where I am the responsible person. His reaction was extremely inappropriate. His post appeared on social media in which he insulted, slandered and threatened. After such an inappropriate and gross attack, it was beneath my personal and professional level of dignity for me to apologize to him. On the contrary, I am convinced that for such a post, he is actually the one who should apologize, not me! This is what I wrote in my response that I published publically as well, titled “Not only is there no reason for me to apologize to Mickoski, but rather I demand an apology from him”.
Those who read the Internet portals where I am responsible, know quite well that whenever we make a mistake, we orderly apologize and cooperate with the media self-regulatory bodies. Mistakes happen, sometimes rude ones, but I have never run away from responsibility.
And may it not be forgotten: Mickoski first attacked me publically, he insulted me and threatened me, and then he filed two lawsuits against me for a text that was conveyed. That’s that.
WHO SAID THAT MR. MICKOSKI IS A POLITICAL PROFITEER AND CRIMINAL?
They wanted to equate me with them and portray me as a political profiteer and criminal, writes the head of VMRO-DPMNE.
That’s not true. Mickoski made it up himself that in the “disputable” posts he was called a profiteer and criminal. Why did he need this fabrication?
The conveyed text does not have these expressions that he uses to start his big campaign against me, but also against freedom of speech in our country.
“They wanted to equate me with them”, points to Mickoski’sneed to equate things, to push them in a basket, in order to achieve an effect that suits him. A well-known method of authoritarian figures in history and today.
And this sentence in his post is a warning to anyone who will qualify him as a “political profiteer and criminal”. If you call him that, you will be lynched on social media by him and his followers, but you will also end up in court.
THOSE WHO CRITICIZE MICKOSKI ARE MEDIA SERVANTS AND USE LIES, FABRICATIONS AND CONSTRUCTIONS
SDSM and DUI involved all of their media servants to insult me and the honor of my family with lies, fabrications and constructions, he writes.
He, as I explained above, politicizes everything. He has entered the matrix in which everything is about the party. The message (warning) is that if you criticize Mickoski, then you must be from SDSM and-or DUI and that all those who disagree with him, in fact, insult him and his family and that these are “lies, fabrications and constructions”. But such a thing is possible only in the world of authoritarian politicians who reject democracy, and often don’t understand it all.
So,those who criticize Mickoski are media servants and use “lies, fabrications and constructions”. That expression of his – “media servants”, is bad, but let his party servants in the media think about that.
He wants to be the main oppositionists, but has a big problem with criticism. Does this remind you of something (someone)?
SHOULD I SUE MICKOSKI?
“…today I received the judgement in the first instance, and one of those media servants has been convicted of slander”, Mickoski wrote.
For unknown reasons, he left out my name from the textual part of his post, but from the screenshots in his post, it’s quite obvious that with this he refers to me. What should I do now? Should I sue him for the expression “media servants” and for other, even more serious insults and threats in this and previous posts on the social networks?Deserves a lawsuit, for sure. In any case, this gross attack against the media deserves an ultimate condemnation. Because I am not the only target.
LONG YEARS OF INTIMIDATION AND DENIGRATION OF DISSENTERS
Mickoski and the machinery standing behind him have been working diligently for years tointimidate and completely denigrate (discredit) all those who dare to write or say something that doesn’t suit them.
I have neither as much money, or as many opportunities as he has (a big and rich political party behind him) for me to engage in new court processes.
But what I can do, and I believe is my duty, is to alert the public that I’m not the only target, but so is freedom of speech. And to tell him: I’m not afraid. Even if I’m left by myself – I’m not afraid.
A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT. TODAY IT’S ME, TOMORROW SOME OF YOU.
Mickoski comments with triumphalism and selectively quotes an invalid court judgement, which is unfitting, especially having in consideration the proportions of the social positions – head of a big political party with 44 MPs and a contender for the position of a prime minister,against a journalist-editor in the Internet media and representative of an NGO. For a conveyedtext!
Since he has already engaged in commenting, I think that it’s important to alert the public about another dangerous precedent. Mickoski is satisfied with the judgment, because, as he interprets it, the court bases its decision on “Article 8 of the ECHR as well as the Code of Journalists of Macedonia”(ECHR – European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights).
Article 8 of the ECHR
Right to respect for private and family life
- Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
- There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
What does this mean, dear citizens?
This means that anyone who ever dares in the future to write something that doesn’t suit Mickoski or any other politician, could be charged and convicted according to this article, even if it is a conveyed statement or text, for which responsibility has not been provided for in the Macedonian laws.
I cannot, even if I wanted to, violate Mickoski’s human rights. On the contrary, he has a position that allows him to do so. He uses that position with ease and threatens human rights and freedoms by abusing his office, the court, the media and social networks.
Judge for yourself, today I am the victim, but tomorrow it could be anyone else who is not up to the standards of Mickoski and those around him!
NEBULOSIS
I have been violating Mickoski’s human rights? And this, no more, no less, but according to Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights!
The head of a party whose regime unlawfully wiretapped thousands of people is a victim of violations of human rights according to Article 8 of the ECHR… Unbelievable! How is this possible? And is this possible in any sense of the word?
Several other serious inconsistencies accompany the court judgement in the first instance, but this, in my opinion, is a dangerous precedent that is being committed and one that will have far-reaching consequences should the judgment become final. To put it mildly: A NEBULOSIS that will become a practice and from which all those trying to think, write, speak and act contrary to the ideas and plans that Mickoski has about the world and about himself, will suffer. And in the center of which, of course, he is in.
A PERSONAL CONFRONTATION AND MORE THAN THAT
Also a little bit about the “transparency” of the head of VMRO-DPMNE. He didn’t respond to about 200 questions from me and the editorial officeswhere I have been working for the past seven years. He also didn’t respond to a dozen invitations for an interview. The questions and invitations were sent to him by email, by post, personally delivered to the reception desk of their headquarters. In a video format as well, through columns and texts – my colleagues and I have asked him to answer important questions for the society and the state. Among them, there are also question about how he managed, with a salary of a university professor, to become an owner of a hydropower plant, for example.
In this dispute as well, apart from lies, manipulations and threats, he didn’t defend himself with anything else.
On the other hand, Mickoski and his party, through their “Oliveri”media and similar to them (including also some of the “European” NGOs), are running an unseen black campaign against journalistic names, editorial offices and civil society organizations. In that campaign, former ambassadors and senior army officials from the time of Gruevism are included, quasi journalists, editors and artists, seemingly analysts, academics and other “patriots” charged with polarization, sowing hatred, calling for violence and blocking the democratic processes in the country.
Mickoski’s attack against me has the feature of a personal confrontation, but it’s not just that.
The goal is to discredit and intimidate dissenters, and particularly those with progressive ideas and standpoints. This operation of his is not a coincidence and does not by far reflect only his personal needs for revenge,
I expect this case to be seriously considered and Mickoskipreventedfrom achieving his dirty goals aimed against freedom of speech and democracy.
Translated by: N. Cvetkovska
