The journalists’ associations reacted to the decision of the prosecution to appeal the decision of Basic Court Skopje 1 for the parole of journalist Tomislav Kezharovski.
President of the Union of Journalists Tamara Chausidis said that she is surprised and shocked by this decision.
– They waited for the very last day and on Friday they reacted in an attempt to reduce or minimize the reactions. It is illusory from them to think that we won’t demand Kezharovski’s release. He is innocent and we will fight to the end to prove it. This is further harassment for him and his family. It shows what they are doing not only journalists, but to the people in Macedonia – says Chausidis.
Macedonian Association of Journalists (MAJ) also protested to the decision by the prosecution to appeal the decision to parole journalist Kezharovski.
“Macedonian Association of Journalists (MAJ) is surprised how much energy the competent prosecution is wasting to put a journalist behind bars, while courts complain about pressure from journalists for sentencing a journalist for a written text. On the other hand, the judicial system expects free journalists and investigative journalism. With this treatment, as the case with or colleague Tomislav Kezharovski for a written text, it is not possible,” reads the statement.
Pubic Prosecution for organized crime and corruption appealed the decision to parole Tomislav Kezharovski.
“Within the statutory deadline, the competent public prosecutor reviewed the decision for parole of the Basic Court Skopje 1. Considering that the decision incorrectly determined the situation in the case and that the convicted person is not eligible for parole, the public prosecutor filed an appeal for the decision”, reads the statement.
Lawyer Filip Medarski says that now they can only await the decision of the higher court (Court of Appeal) and expect a positive resolution.
– We are working on the request to the Supreme Court for extraordinary review of the first instance decision and expect it to be delivered over the next week – said Medarski.
There is not a deadline in which the Court of Appeal should answer to the appeal of the public prosecutor.
