Association of Journalists of Macedonia – AJM press conference in October 2021 warned about growing number of incidents. Photo by AJM, used with permission. This article by Meri Jordanovska was originally published by Truthmeter.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation. In the period from 2017 to 2021, as many as 42 attacks on journalists and media workers were registered in the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) Register. The most common form of threat to the safety of journalists is verbal threats. Out of 42 cases of attacks on journalists, as many as 25 were verbal threats, 14 were physical attacks , two were attacks on media organizations, and one attack was in the form of imprisonment of a journalist. This data is shown by the latest publication entitled “Attacks on Journalists and Media Workers 2017 – 2021: Tendencies and Recommendations” in which the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) covers some of the more serious violations of the rights of media workers in the country. Types of incidents against media workers in North Macedonia (2017-2022) according to Association of Journalists of Macedonia report. Graph by AJM, used with permission. The first conclusion that can be drawn from the publication is that the number of attacks on woman journalists is higher than the attacks on male journalists in the last two years. “Sexist rhetoric is often used, giving these attacks an extra feature by the fact that they not only refer to the work of journalists, but also seem to be gender-based.” The second conclusion in the context of the safety of journalists is that the frequency of attacks and threats against media workers increases in turbulent political situations, especially during elections. According to AJM, frequent defamatory labeling of journalists as enemies by politicians and public officials could further encourage party sympathizers to follow suit, and continue to threaten the safety of journalists and media workers in a similar manner. The third conclusion drawn from the analysis is that physical attacks on journalists decreased during the pandemic, while online threats against journalists increased significantly. The fourth and, according to AJM, the most important trend is the impunity for attacks on journalists, an issue that requires more serious commitment from law enforcement and judicial authorities: „И покрај бројните домашни и меѓународни извештаи кои укажуваат на овој проблем, и покрај бројните конференции кои се користат за укажување на овој проблем, па и покрај бројните анализи и публикации на оваа тема, проблемот со неказнивоста продолжува да тлее и да биде посочуван како негативен пример во светски рамки.“ “Despite numerous domestic and international reports pointing to this issue, as well as numerous conferences, analyses and publications dealing with it, the impunity of attacks on journalists continues and has been pointed as a negative example in global context.” In 2017, 16 attacks on journalists and media workers were registered in the AJM Register. Out of these, six were verbal attacks on journalists, nine were physical assaults, and there was one case of destruction of personal property. In 2017, the storming of the Parliament, also known as “Bloody Thursday” took place, when 20 media workers were attacked, and some of them sought justice in court. The Basic Civil Court in Skopje rejected their lawsuits. According to the AJM report: “Meanwhile, the only ones who have received justice for the events of April 27 are politicians. Their attackers are already convicted persons. This speaks volumes about the double standards in dealing with cases of violence against journalists versus politicians, as well as the enormous degree of impunity of the attacks on journalists.” In 2018, AJM registered three cases of attacks on journalists. Journalist Armand Braho was attacked during a conference of the Alliance for Albanians (AA) party in Struga. According to him, party members harassed him, prevented him from broadcasting the conference live, and, after the event, he was physically attacked. The second case of an attack on journalists was registered in March 2018, when the brother of a senior official of the ruling political party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) made a death threat to the then-president of AJM, Naser Selmani. The condemnation of the threats by the international community and a protest in front of the government led the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation into the case, but it failed to press charges.