Condemn for the Sloboden pechat cover from 16 March 2018

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia strongly condemns the cover of the 14.03.2018 edition of the daily newspaper “Sloboden pechat” referring to the context of the ongoing social and political events. Publishing a photo of a woman participating in a protest rally in front of the Parliament of the RM with the headline “VMRO-members Show Their Teeth” is severe harassment of the personality of the woman in the photo by deliberately attaching characteristics such as political affiliation and social status. Such sensationalist headlines based on prejudice, serve as trigger to fuel insults and hate speech in the public discourse, a danger that the Helsinki Committee has been warning about in continuity.

We urge the editorial board of the “Sloboden pechat” daily to apologize to the public and the woman who was ridiculed and, in future, to refrain from abusing the faces of innocent citizens who are exercising their right to protest, especially in times of political turmoil.