Joint Programme

Horizontal Facility

By launching a JUFREX/HELP online course: “Training of legal professionals on Protection and Safety of Journalists” for judges, public prosecutors and lawyers in North Macedonia, the European Union and the Council of Europe have once again demonstrated their support for the protection and safety of journalists.

The course is launched on the Council of Europe Human Rights Education of Legal Professionals (HELP) online platform and is part of the joint EU and Council of Europe action “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia” (JUFREX), aimed at strengthening free, independent and diverse media, as an essential part of a democratic society.

The Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of North Macedonia, David Geer, said “The value of this course that aims to further enable legal professionals, journalists and law-enforcement officials to identify and tackle threats against media actors is even bigger in times when the freedom of expression - a key element of democracy and an essential EU value, faces numerous challenges - not only in the country, but also in the EU and worldwide. Journalists continue to be target of verbal and physical attacks, as well as to face obstructions in their daily work which jeopardises their critical role as watchdogs in societies. The latest example of this here was the recent attack on a TV crew in Gostivar. We commend the amendments of the legislation aiming to improve the position of the media actors, but we also emphasise the importance of wide and all-inclusive consultations that should result in quality laws that would later on be fully implemented in practice.”

Patrick Penninckx, Head of the Council of Europe Information Society Department, thanked the participants for their co-operation in strengthening the capacities of legal professionals to ensure freedom of expression by protecting journalists. “Given the damaging consequences that attacks against journalists have on democratic societies, the protection of journalists and other media actors is a high priority for the Council of Europe. Through a series of activities, the Council of Europe has therefore striven to ensure that journalists and other media actors across member states could fulfil their role as watchdogs of democracy without interference and without fear and that no crime against journalists and other media actors is treated with impunity,” concluded Penninckx.

Natasha Gaber–Damjanovska, Director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors of North Macedonia, confirmed that European standards in educating judges and public prosecutors are followed in the country. “The co-operation with the JUFREX project in the past greatly contributed to providing training for judges and prosecutors in the field of freedom of expression, and we are now looking forward to focusing on the latest case-law of the European Court for Human Rights relating to the protection and the safety of journalists”, said Gaber-Damjanovska.

For his part, the President of the Bar Association of North Macedonia, Ljubomir Mihajlovski, referred to the fruitful co-operation with the joint action of the European Union and Council of Europe on Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia. He underlined that the knowledge offered by these trainings is motivating lawyers to use and apply European standards and the case-law of the European Court for Human Rights in their everyday work.

Dragan Sekulovski, the Executive Director of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, spoke in the name of the journalists and other media actors in North Macedonia. “We need more political willingness and systematic solutions that will lead to resolving old cases of attacks against journalists and preventing new ones. The second thing that needs to be done is increasing the social standards of the journalists and a guarantee of the socio-economic status of all professional media actors. Increasing the economic standards of the journalists is important since in this way they will be more pressure resistant and will be more motivated to produce quality content that serves the public interest”, concluded Sekulovski.

The course will be led by two local tutors who will assist their colleague judges, public prosecutors and lawyers in identifying and tackling the threats towards journalists and other media actors. The topics of the training are explored in a practical way, by using presentations, interactive screens, knowledge tests and reflective exercises.

The JUFREX/HELP online course gives an overview of the key standards and legal frameworks on the protection of journalists, helps identify and understand different forms of pressure faced by journalists as well as mechanisms to fight or prevent impunity. The course - lasting 10 hours – is interactive and uses innovative and engaging teaching methods. Apart from this tutored version, the course is also available for self-learning and all those interested in taking the free course can register using this link.

This activity is organised in the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022", and its action “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia” implemented in co-operation with the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors and the Bar Association of North Macedonia.

For more information

Simona Vukanova – [email protected] , tel: +389 78 300908
Aleksandra Bogdanovska, [email protected]  , tel: +389 76 454755  
Simona Trajkoska, [email protected] , tel: +389 71 209050