North Macedonia: Al Jazeera Balkans journalist Milka Smilevska attacked during protest in Skopje

September 11, 2020, Skopje, North Macedonia -- Al Jazeera Balkans reporter Milka Smilevska was attacked by an unknown man along with her crew member while covering the protests organized by the political party VMRO DPMNE on September 9. 

According to an article she wrote today titled “And I persisted…”, Milka and her crew were interviewing a protester who expressed distrust to the government. An unidentified man asked the journalist “Aren’t you from Al Jazeera?” and when Milka answered with an affirmative she was pushed from the back, making her equipment drop on the floor. 

The journalist’s pleas with the police to find her attacker at first fell on deaf ears with one police officer saying: “I am in charge of over a dozen of my colleagues, I can’t search for your attacker.” It was only after the same man attempted to approach the crew again and Milka told the police on the ground that he was the attacker, the man was removed from the crowd and taken to the police station. It is anticipated that a misdemeanor charge will be filed against the attacker.

This attitude towards journalists on duty in the field is despicable and should be severely punished. Letting go of such incidents with impunity creates a chilling effect further endangering journalists’ safety, hence the right to freedom of expression, and the right to inform citizens which are pillars of any democratic society.

In her article Milka said: “I hope that this [the decision to speak up about the attack] will be a good example for all journalists and media workers that, no matter what, we should react and not remain silent when someone attacks us on the ground. A message to younger journalists, even though you work in extraordinary circumstances burdened from all sides, be brave; it will give you a good feeling at the end of the day and will help you stay in stormy media waters for a long time.”

The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented in July alone two separate cases of threats against women journalists in North Macedonia for fulfilling their journalistic duties. Impeding a journalist on work and causing damage to their equipment is unacceptable. We call on relevant institutions, mainly the Ministry of Interior to function in a non-partisan way and ensure the safety of journalists.