Albanian journalist sentenced to five years in prison
Rajmonda Malecka, a journalist from Albania, and her father Bujar Malecka, have been sentenced to 5 year imprisonment each for involvement in the preparation of terrorist activities. The verdict was passed in retrial in Skopje District Court.
In September, Macedonian Court of Appeals annulled the decision of Skopje District Court in the case of Albanian journalist Malecka and returned the case to the Skopje Court, which has sentenced both Rajmonda and her father Bujar to five-year imprisonment each.
Rajmonda Malecka is the only journalist to be convicted in Macedonia for interviewing and reporting on the paramilitary group leader Agim Krasniqi. For several months, the group kept the village of Kondovo, near Skopje, under a blockade.
Malecka's lawyers said they would file an appeal to a higher court.
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) called on Macedonian authorities to do everything in their power to investigate the Malecka case and to withdraw the charges and the sentence.
SEEMO stressed that the free movement and free reporting of journalists is a fundamental principle in any democratic society. SEEMO believes it is unacceptable to punish a journalist, in this case a foreign journalist, who was merely practicing her profession.
A number of Macedonian- and Albanian-language media in Macedonia protested the trial of journalist. |
