Political Scandals and Judiciary Corruption in Macedonia

[makedonche]

Macedonia doesn't need any external opinions on how to run the country or who should resign or any other useless opinions, if these imbeciles didn't have the guts to stand up and comment on the international stage that Macedonia is entitled to self determination, what the fuck are they sticking their noses in for now?

[sydney]

It's sound to ask for resignations from political figures in the wake of this affair, and it's also sound to ask where the recordings have come from. As the ambassador says, it's all about transparency.

[VMRO]

German Diplomat Urges Resignations in Macedonia

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/germany-suggests-resignations-in-macedonia-wiretap-scandal

German ambassador to Macedonia says top-level resignations may be needed to ensure a credible investigation into opposition claims of government corruption.


German Ambassador to Macedonia, Christine Althauser | Photo by: diplo.de

Germany's ambassador to Macedonia, Christine Althauser, told a round table in Skopje on EU integration that Macedonian officials may have to resign to ensure a credible investigation into opposition claims that the government has abused its powers.

"Political consequences of this scope... are unavoidable", Althauser said on Monday. "Political consequences mean, for instance, resignations as a precondition to get the necessary transparent and impartial investigation started."

Last week, the US ambassador to Macedonia, Jess Baily, called on Macedonia to probe claims that the government had misused its powers and - if need be - remove those who were hampering the credibility of the process.

The German ambassador said Macedonia's failure to start treating opposition allegations seriously was irritating Western ambassadors.

"Our Western belief that... the interests of the state should prevail over party politics seems to be naive in regards to the political culture here, to say the least," Althauser remarked.

Althauser told the round table that it was "tragic" to see that all of the country's shortcomings listed in the annual reports of the European Commission on Macedonia - over the rule of law, judicial and media independence and over elections - confirmed by the contents of the tapes of official conversations released by the opposition.

"Over-employment in state institutions, often staffed with party followers rather than competent administrators, unequal treatment of individuals and certain institutions before the courts... political interference in the media, in particular in the public broadcaster, have... made each Macedonian citizen and taxpayer a victim of the clientelistic and partisan behavior of state institutions," the ambassador said.

Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats under Zoran Zaev started releasing secretly recorded tapes of officials' conversations in February. It claims they show Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski orchestrated the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people, adding that the material comes from sources in the Macedonian secret services.

Gruevski has insisted that the tapes were created by unnamed "foreign secret services" in collaboration with the opposition in order to destabilise the country.

The European Parliament has launched talks between the opposition and the government to help overcome the political crisis in the country, but the talks have far to yield any results.

[makedonche]

What are they complaining about, they got nice flowers! I like the Alexandrov card too!

[VMRO]

New Tapes Reveal Macedonia Govt's Grip on Media

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/arti...cedonian-media

The ruling party has been carefully selecting journalists for work in the public broadcaster while controlling the private media through ties to their owners, the opposition said on Wednesday, revealing its latest wiretapped conversations.
Sinisa Jakov Marusic
BIRN
Skopje


At the opposition's 24th press conference on the subject of government wiretapping, the Social Democrats presented new tapes that they say reveal the ruling party's tight grip on the media.

The content of the latest tapes explain why the national broatcaster, Macedonian Radio and Television, MRTV "has been turned into an electoral headquarters of the ruling [VMRO DPMNE] party," Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev told a press conference.

Several conversations between what appears to be the voice of Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska feature her telling Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that she has a notebook full of names of eligible and ineligible journalists for hire.

The Prime Minister asks her to check out several names that are about to be sent off as foreign correspondents.

On a previous occasion, the opposition presented a tape in which Jankuloska's voice could be heard speaking about a similar notebook containing the names of reliable judges.

In another new tape, between Jankuloska and what appears to be the Prime Minister's chef-de-cabinet, Martin Protugjer, the two cannot decide whether to continue employing people in MRTV who are recommended by the ruling party's local branches but who seem incapable of journalistic work. Another option they mull is to employ professionals who are close to them. The adopted conclusion is to proceed along both paths.

One conversation appears to feature Gruevski telling Transport Minister Mile Janakieski that they should take over Radio Gostivar, a local broadcaster. "Let one of ours apply and take over [the station]", Gruevski says.

Several other conversations appear to feature Protugjer calling Emil Stojmenov, owner of the private Kanal 5 TV,one of the most prominent TV stations in Macedonia, instructing him not to publish certain news items and interviews that are not favourable to the ruling party. Stojmenov willingly complies.

In another tape, Protugjer calls Stojmenov to tell him that the TV's main headline story should be about oil smuggling, as he aims to use against the opposition.

Another tape reveals what seems to be a conversation between Protugjer and Janakieski in which Protugjer instructs Janakieski that a pro-government newspaper, Republika, must be procured and distributed to public institutions "to the maximum".

One other tape involves the alleged voice of secret police chief Saso Mijalkov telling Dragan Pavlovic, the chief editor at Sitel TV, another prominent pro-government outlet, that he plans to give him exclusive video footage of an apprehended person. He describes in detail where and when the person will be nabbed by the police, so that the TV cameras can capture the event for the cameras.

The opposition played other tapes that they say highlight the clientelistic relationship between mainstream media owners and government.

In one tape, what seems to be the owner of Sitel TV, Goran Ivanov, asks Transport Minister Janakieski to grant him a permit for a higher than originally predicted building in Skopje.

It was intended for the headquarters of a small government party, the Socialist Party, led for decades by his father, Ljubisav Ivanov.

Janakieski agrees to the request but says that local residents near the construction site have already complained about the plans. "F***k them!" the voice of Ivanov is heard responding.

In another case, the owner of Kanal 5, Stojmenov, appears to ask Protugjer to ensure the State Revenue Office, UJP, turns a blind eye to unpaid taxes by the TV.

Protugjer pledges to "find a way to fix that matter" and later tells Stojmenov that the Prime Minister has personally intervened, by summoning the chief of the UJP.

In another tape, the opposition says Sitel TV editor Dragan Pavlovic can be heard asking for, and getting, advice from UJP chief Goran Trajkovski on how to re-program the debts of one of his firms, Total, so that he can later close it.

In another case, the opposition said Pavlovic's voice can be heard boasting about how he had found a job for his wife with a good salary in just five minutes, thanks to his good relations with the Prime Minister.

The new tapes reveal the "vulgar occupation and criminal coalition of Gruevski with the public broadcaster and the private media outlets", Zaev told the press conference, demanding that the above-mentioned media outlets allow him air time to confront them with the evidence that he possesses.

The opposition started releasing its tapes of government officials' conversations in February. It claims that Gruevski has orchestrated the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people and that the material comes from sources in the Macedonian secret services.

Gruevski has insisted that the tapes were created by unnamed "foreign secret services" in collaboration with the opposition in order to destabilise the country.

[VMRO]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_7116576.html

Journalist Critical Of Macedonian Government Receives Chilling Death Threat


By Kole Casule
Journalists in Macedonia protested on Wednesday after a prominent news anchor received a death threat in the form of a funeral wreath, against a backdrop of deepening political crisis in the ex-Yugoslav republic.

The wreath was received by the wife of Borjan Jovanovski, a journalist with the Macedonian Internet portal Nova TV and a well-known critic of the conservative government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, at their home in Skopje on Tuesday.

It read "Final Regards" and the unidentified man who delivered it named the sender as Todor Aleksandrov, an apparent reference to a controversial member of the VMRO nationalist movement against Ottoman Turkish rule in the region in the early 20th century.

The threat comes at a time when Gruevski's ruling VMRO-DPMNE party - which claims roots in the VMRO movement - is facing accusations of illegal surveillance and abuse of power.

The government, opposition and Macedonia's journalism association condemned the death threat. Dozens of journalists gathered in front of the government building, where they left their own wreath in symbolic protest.

"Of all the threats that Borjan received, that I and other critical colleagues have received, this threat has shaken us the most," said his sister Svetlana, also a journalist.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a human rights watchdog, said the wreath sent to Jovanovski amounted to "yet another message that critical voices are to be silenced."

On Tuesday the European Union expressed "grave concern" over what it said was deterioration in the rule of law, fundamental rights and freedom of media in Macedonia, a candidate for membership of the bloc.

Since January, opposition leader Zoran Zaev has been publishing wire-taps he says were conducted by the government and which critics say provide evidence of extensive state control over the media, judges and the conduct of elections.

The EU and the United States have urged authorities to investigate the content of the tapes, but police have instead charged Zaev with trying to topple the government. Gruevski says the wire-taps were the work of a foreign spy service and has dismissed his critics' accusations of widespread abuse of power.

On Wednesday, Zaev released new tapes in which voices purported to be those of senior government officials are heard discussing hiring journalists at the state broadcaster and agreeing editorial policy with the owners and editors of two private television stations.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Macedonia 117th out of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index, down from 45th in 2006 when Gruevski came to power. (Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Gareth Jones)

[VMRO]

Wire-tap scandal threatens stability, democracy in Macedonia



Opposition leader Zoran Zaev (C) is seen on a mobile phone screen during a news conference in Skopje


Macedonian magazine editor Mladen Cadikovski received his "file" in a binder -- page after page of transcribed telephone calls with colleagues and friends, leaked to him by the country's opposition leader who is publishing scores of such wire-taps.

Cadikovski's Focus magazine is fiercely critical of Macedonia's conservative government and he was not surprised that authorities might be tapping his calls.

"(But) it's a different feeling when you open the folder and see at least a dozen real conversations, that your life is sitting wide open in the palm of someone's hand," he said.

Fourteen years since NATO pulled Macedonia from the brink of civil war, the ex-Yugoslav republic once hailed as a success-story of Western intervention is embroiled in a scandal that critics say has exposed its democracy as hollow and could potentially reopen a dangerous ethnic divide.

For three months opposition Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev has been publishing the wire-taps he says he received from a whistleblower. He says they were gathered illegally and on an industrial scale by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's government.

Voices purported to be those of Gruevski, senior officials, journalists and judges have been aired at press conferences. The tapes appear to expose ministers and security officials discussing how to employ rank-and-file party members in state jobs, pick judges and massage elections.

Gruevski has dismissed the wire-taps as the work of foreign spies and the authorities have charged Zaev, who has no immunity from prosecution, with trying to topple the government.

The European Union, which Macedonia hopes to join, expressed "grave concern" on Tuesday over what it said was deterioration in the rule of law, fundamental rights and freedom of media.
Related Coverage

› Media critic of Macedonian government receives funeral wreath

"If the recordings are true, and much suggests that they are, Macedonia cannot be described as a democracy," said Florian Bieber, an expert on the region based at the University of Graz.

Gruevski was not available to speak to Reuters but a senior ally, deputy parliament speaker and former foreign minister Antonio Milososki, accused Zaev of "playing a risky game".

"It does not fit someone who is trying to promote himself to be a prime minister of a country, to play the role of Julian Assange or Edward Snowden," he told Reuters, referring to well-known leakers of classified information in the West.

ETHNIC TENSIONS

Faced with the prospect of a lengthy jail sentence, Zaev has now threatened to publish tapes he says expose government machinations against Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority if Gruevski does not agree to hold new, fair elections.

With Macedonia's EU and NATO aspirations in limbo due to a long-running row with Greece, the West's leverage in brokering a solution to the crisis is limited. But the stakes are high.

In 2001, amid clashes between government security forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas, NATO brokered a peace deal that offered greater rights for the 30-percent Albanian minority and Macedonia was promised a path to membership of NATO and the EU.

But progress has been blocked by the dispute with Greece over Macedonia's name, which it shares with a northern Greek province. Meanwhile, Gruevski has shifted right, burnishing Macedonians' sense of national identity with a gaudy, neo-classical facelift of the capital and, critics say, backsliding on democratic freedoms, particularly independent media.

Frustration over the lack of progress towards the European mainstream is again fueling ethnic tensions. Diplomats fear both sides in the surveillance scandal may try to exploit the threat of inter-ethnic violence.

Zaev says he has wire-taps concerning a notorious murder case from 2012, when five Macedonian men were shot dead at a lake near Skopje. Police blamed "radical Islamists" and five ethnic Albanians were convicted. The case triggered Albanian protests and some remain suspicious about the official version.

"Everyone will know the truth," Zaev told Reuters.

Bieber said a bigger risk lay in Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE trying to stir up ethnic tensions in order to shore up its own support base and distract attention from the wire-taps.

On Tuesday, police said 40 armed men speaking Albanian had briefly seized a police post near Macedonia's northern border with Kosovo, in what authorities described as a "terrorist act". The men disappeared without a trace.

[VMRO]

Good observation. But then again, those who always wave flags and those who presented themselves as patriots turned out to be the biggest traitors out of everyone. Tough times in Macedonia these days, no one is worthy of our trust.

I agree Niko, it looks like nobody is worthy of our trust in this day and age.

Technology has come a long way and politicians need to understand with social media today, negative publicity can either make or break you.

[Niko777]

I've never liked MINA. It's mostly opinion, anyway.

Though, while it looks like several hundred people, the number of Mak flags or symbols is maybe 1? I'm not saying that flag wavers and chest beaters are what make a good rally, or that you can't have a legitimate rally without them. Just an observation.

Good observation. But then again, those who always wave flags and those who presented themselves as patriots turned out to be the biggest traitors out of everyone. Tough times in Macedonia these days, no one is worthy of our trust.

[vicsinad]

I don't support any of the political parties in Macedonia, but I find it disgusting and am amazed how many media outlets are still spreading cheap pro-Gruevski propaganda. Look at today's article by MINA:

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27271/45/

"Roughly 50 people showed up at the rally in Ohrid."

Does this look like 50 people to you?

I've never liked MINA. It's mostly opinion, anyway.

Though, while it looks like several hundred people, the number of Mak flags or symbols is maybe 1? I'm not saying that flag wavers and chest beaters are what make a good rally, or that you can't have a legitimate rally without them. Just an observation.

[ramo]

Conversations published yesterday.

Prime minister and one of the ministers in the government are talking about organizing protests , how the protests should be held in the Center muncipality. Gruevski asks group of people to enter the building and one of the "protesters" to slap the mayor of Center municipality few times in front of cameras.

http://brif.mk/?p=181503

the audio recording is on soundcloud on the link.

[Niko777]

I don't support any of the political parties in Macedonia, but I find it disgusting and am amazed how many media outlets are still spreading cheap pro-Gruevski propaganda. Look at today's article by MINA:

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/27271/45/

"Roughly 50 people showed up at the rally in Ohrid."

Does this look like 50 people to you?

[ramo]

Small part of todays bomb. Reporter from national tv channel and high ranked official from vmro are speaking about setting up scandal about opposition member director of high school. They are speaking about showing photos of him together with underage girls in swimming pool on the news.

This was main news on the news some time ago. After that it turned out that the man was photographed with his daughters.

http://novatv.mk/index.php?navig=8&cat=2&vest=21646

[VMRO]

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/enl...cedonia-313781

The EU's reaction to the latest political crisis in Macedonia crisis has been very slow, and gives the impression that the EU seems out of touch with reality on the ground, writes Erwan Fouéré.

Erwan Fouéré is Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and former ambassador to Ukraine. The op-ed was first published on the CEPS website.

The European Commission's Progress Report on Macedonia published last year contained a clear warning to the government that failure to address the growing concerns over the politicisation of state institutions as well as the independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression would result in a withdrawal of the recommendation for opening negotiations.

Six months later, not only has the government done nothing to address the Report's findings, but the political situation has dramatically deteriorated. It is no exaggeration to suggest that of all the problems in the Balkan region, the case of Macedonia and the worsening crisis in the country is the most problematic and also the most acute. It is an example of how one should never take anything for granted in the Balkans – a positive narrative one day can become a nightmare scenario the next.

This crisis also raises serious questions as to whether the EU is doing enough to deploy its foreign policy instruments in dealing with the situation at political level as well as to ensure effective follow-up to its Progress Report recommendations by the government.

In 2005, Macedonia was regarded as a success story in overcoming inter-ethnic tensions and promoting courageous reforms – an effort the EU rewarded by granting candidate status for EU accession. Today it is a country governed by fear and intimidation with a ruling party, whose ethno-nationalist and populist agenda has created new fault lines in an already-fragile environment.

The Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, and his ruling party (VMRO-DPMNE – The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation –Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity) have pursued a systematic campaign against all those who openly criticise the regime. The country has the worst record in media freedom in the Balkan region; the latest Reporters without Borders index ranks Macedonia in 123rd place, just above Angola, a drop of almost 90 places from 2009, when it was ranked in 34th place.

Perhaps most alarming are the deep tensions that have reopened between the ethnic Albanian community, comprising 25% of the population (according to the 2002 census), and the main Macedonian community, with a level of mistrust not seen since the bloody conflict of 2001, when several hundred people were killed. Much of this increased mistrust is due to the divisive policies of the ruling party and a lack of sensitivity for inter-ethnic relations (the controversial Skopje 2014 urban renewal project being the most visible example).

The latest crisis to rock the country is the revelation of a vast wiretapping operation providing evidence of alleged corruption by a government that seems to ignore due process and operates by its own rules. The voices on the released tapes are clearly recognisable, and include conversations between the Prime Minister and several Ministers and other senior officials, not least the chief of the state security, Saso Mijalkov, who also happens to be the cousin of Gruevski.

The Prime Minister, while not denying the authenticity of the conversations, claims that the tapes were doctored and that those responsible for the wiretapping operation are foreign intelligence services, which he has refused to identify. He has accused Zoran Zaev, the leader of the opposition party SDSM (Social Democratic Union of Macedonia), who has been releasing the tapes to the public in a series of press conferences over the past two months, of plotting a coup against the government. Zaev has been charged with espionage and has had his passport revoked.

The reaction from the EU to this latest crisis has been very slow and initially limited to expressions of 'serious concern', and calls for an “independent and transparent investigation”.

This statement gave the impression that the EU seemed out of touch with reality on the ground, in addition to being inconsistent with the findings of the Progress Report, which had itself raised concerns over the independence of the judicial process.

The Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, paid his first long-scheduled visit to Skopje on 17 February 2015. This was more than two weeks after the Prime Minister had accused the leader of the opposition with espionage. Yet the Commissioner made no reference to the wiretapping scandal during his visit, and confined his remarks to expressions of hope for the country's progress on the EU perspective.

The focus has now shifted to a mediation effort by a delegation from the European Parliament at the request of the Commissioner. The delegation is composed of the Rapporteur for Macedonia Ivo Vajgl, the former Rapporteur Richard Howitt, and Eduard Kukan, a member of the European Peoples Party (of which the VMRO-DPMNE party is a member).

The first meeting which brought together in Brussels representatives from both the ruling party and the opposition took place on March 30th; a further meeting is scheduled for some time later this month (after the Orthodox Easter). However, if past experience is anything to go by, it is doubtful that such a mediation effort with only periodic meetings spread over several months has much chance of success.

It is clear that the only way out of this crisis is for a much more robust and direct involvement of the EU – both the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS), which has been largely silent up to now . The Foreign Affairs Council at its next meeting should also focus on the crisis before it deteriorates further.

The EU should push for an independent investigation of the wiretapping, with the participation of respected international personalities, which would have the power to call witnesses. Leaving this to the current Public Prosecutor would have no credibility in view of the many cases of direct interference by the ruling party in the judicial system. Several of the released wiretapped conversations relate to alleged government interference in judicial proceedings as well as in judicial appointments, giving further credence to the relevant findings of the European Commission's Progress Report.

The serious and repeated failings of the government in its reform record as reflected in successive Progress Reports, and in its management of the electoral process as reflected in successive OSCE/ODIHR election observation reports, point to a government that has lost all credibility. The setting up of a transitional government, which would prepare for a proper electoral process, is probably the only solution to overcome the crisis. This would help to restore some basic legitimacy to the institutions of the state and a restoration of the rule of law. To assist in this transitional process, the EU should consider the appointment of a Special Representative with political clout who would be deployed for a fixed period.

The EU, and in particular the European Commission, also needs to reconsider its overall approach in dealing with the situation in the country. By continuing to insist in its last two Progress Reports that "the country sufficiently meets the political criteria", despite the eruption of violence in the Parliament in December 2012, and many other serious shortcomings in its reform record, it will have given the Prime Minister and his ruling party the impression that they can continue to act with impunity.

If the EU lets this latest scandal pass, it will be a serious failure of leadership on its part and that of the member states.

It would also be a terrible blow for government accountability and respect for the rule of law in the Balkan region, and would undermine the EU's own policy of putting the rule of law at the heart of its enlargement policy.

There are undoubtedly reasons to explain the apparent lack of attention to and even understanding on the part of the EU on the severity of the situation in Macedonia, one of them being the low priority given to enlargement in many EU member states. A common refrain is that so long as there is stability in the region, whatever problems there are will sort themselves out.

This is a dangerous assumption. Maintaining stability at the expense of the rule of law and government accountability is a sure recipe for failure in the long term. It is time for the EU to use all the foreign policy instruments at its disposal to address in a more decisive manner the crisis in Macedonia, not only for the sake of the country and its people, but also because of the potential impact in the broader region.

[VMRO]

How can anyone trust a man such as Zaev... the man would sell his soul just to run the government.

That is not the type of person i would want to take over IMO.