Macedonian Journalist’s Arrest Stirs Protest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Who's next for Liquidation?” – a poster at today's journalist protest in Skopje, referring to the official code name of the operation (“Liquidation”), in which journalist Tomislav Kezarovski was captured along with others on May 28. Photo by Biserka Velkovska/@bvelkovska, used with permission.
Macedonian journalists gathered [mk; video and text: sq, mk] in front of the Criminal Court in the capital Skopje today to protest against the arrest of their colleague, Tomislav Kezarovski, according to this note [en] posted in the Macedonian Facebook group titled “Journalists and citizens in defense of the right to freedom of information.” It appears that the official reason for Kezarovski's 30-day detention is a story he wrote five years ago for a publication that no longer exists. On the other hand, he has been investigating the death of Nikola Mladenov, publisher and editor of an independent media outlet, for the past two months.  Although the official cause of Mladenov's death is a “classic traffic accident,” much remains unclear in the case. Kezarovski wrote an article [mk] about Mladenov's last hours, based on the evidence found by the Nova Makedonija daily's team, revealing that after the police left the heavily-guarded crime scene, much evidence was left there, including paid toll bills and parts of the vehicle.