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Skopje. Two Macedonian journalists, who have been previously arrested this morning by Greek police in Florina, have been released after an officer with the municipal administration gave up on the idea to initiate a lawsuit against them, Dnevnik daily informed.
Kanal 5 TV journalists had taken photos of Greek nationals with Macedonian origin, who were filing documents to issue a birth certificate. The officer filed a claim over illegal picture taking. A journalist with Vesti daily, was arrested as an accomplice.
The two detainees said that the police approached the case correctly.
Milena Gjorgievska of daily Vest and Goran Momirovski of Kanal 5 were detained by Greek police earlier today while visiting Lerin with a group of Macedonians.
The group of Macedonians, all currently living in Skopje were born in Lerin and visited the small city to obtain their birth certificates.
-Myself and colleague Momirovski accompanied around 15 Macedonians from Skopje all hailing from Aegean Macedonia who for years can't obtain their birth certificate from local authorities. The official told them they need to go to the Greek consulate to obtain their birth certificates. They requested an explanation as to why would they need to go to a Consulate when they were born in Lerin and the certificates were here. The official was a woman so when she saw myself and Momirovski holding a camera, she became hysterical and called the police." says Gjorgievska.
"We were detained for two hours by the police, they took our passports and the cameras. Once they realized we were not there to film their offices and there was no footage on the camera, we were freed," adds Gjorgievska.
The Macedonian consul in Solun upon hearing of the detainment of Macedonian journalists was on his way to Lerin. Meanwhile the SE European Journalist Association SEEMO was alarmed about the incident. This isn't the first time Macedonian journalists are detained in Greece.
Greece of course had their own version of the incident: Greece's consulate in Skopje came out with a press release stating "Macedonian journalists were filming inside Governmental building hence the detainment". This contradictory stattement came despite the fact Greek police found no footage shot in or around the Government offices.
As part of their program, each year both Vest and Kanal5 send journalists to visit the Lerin region and film Macedonians celebrating holidays.
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