Arrests Add Fuel to Anti-Impunity Protesters’ Fire in Macedonia · Global Voices
Banner “Freedom for the Activists!” at April 25 protest in Skopje. Photo by <PERSON>, CC BY-NC-SA.
As massive protests against impunity for corruption continue in several Macedonian cities, police have placed five demonstrators under house arrest and are set to bring charges of participating in a mob or rioting against several others.
Authorities first summoned the protesters for questioning, then arrested them on April 25. They include university professor <PERSON>, PhD, and <PERSON>, both of whom are founding members of the newly formed leftist political party Levica (The Left). The two are accused of participation in a mob, and were ordered to serve eight days of house arrest.
According to the Ministry of Interior, <PERSON> burned a photograph of the president and threw objects at the president's Public Outreach Office, which was ransacked on the second day of protests. <PERSON>, meanwhile, allegedly took out chairs, two drawers, and a packet of juices using the broken window of the office. The packet of juices he then shared with the people present outside, according to the ministry.
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights has accused authorities of selectively targeting prominent protesters like them in a blatant attempt to scare demonstrators and smother public unrest. House arrest for demonstrators, of course, means that they cannot participate in any rallies.
Macedonians have flooded the streets of the capital Skopje and other cities since April 12, when President <PERSON> extended a pardon to more than 50 top politicians and businessmen who were under investigation from the Special Prosecutor's Office for suspected corruption, election fraud and misuse of power. These alleged crimes came to light in conversations wiretapped reportedly on the order of former Prime Minister <PERSON> that were leaked last year by the political opposition.
The pardon also earned condemnation from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the US and the European Union, among others. 363
Negotiations scheduled for last week in Vienna to end the political crisis were canceled, and Macedonia's government at the moment is showing no signs of reversing course.
Pro-government media outlet Kurir.mk published a list of 13 demonstrators, along with their ages and city of residence, who it said were involved in the destruction of the president's Public Outreach Office and would face charges. But some of those who appeared on the list denied that they had participated in any of the damage done to the office. One woman maintained she was actually arrested for complaining to police for dragging her male friend to the ground who had been filming officers.
‘FREEDOM is not easy to obtain!’
<PERSON> and <PERSON> also appear in that Kurir.mk article. The NGO Solidarity Movement published a Facebook status <PERSON> posted before going to the police station, accompanied with their message that they won't be intimidated.
Соборци и соборки за слобода, БЛИСКУ Е ПОБЕДАТА! Го раздрмавме режимот! Но, не смееме да потклекнеме! Борбата не е завршена! Мора да излегуваме масовно на протести. Да се види колкаво е незадоволството од режимот. А не само да се претпоставува.
СЛОБОДАТА е скапа. И мора да ја заслужиме! Секој ден во 6!
Fellow freedom fighters, VICTORY IS COMING! We have shaken the regime! But we must not yield or surrender! The fight is not over! We must go to protests in mass numbers. So that the grave discontent with the regime is seen, not just speculated.
FREEDOM is not easy to obtain! 463