09 October 2012
Skopje
ROUND TABLE “FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION„
“The right to freedom of expression, the freedom of personal opinion, receiving and transmitting of information and ideas without interference of the public authorities, no matter the borders, is guaranteed by the European Convention for Human Rights, that implies obligations and responsibilities. The freedom of expression is one of the basic principles of every society and one of the preconditions for its progress”.
This was stated by the Ombudsman Ixhet Memeti at the opening ceremony of the round table dedicated to the freedom of expression.
According to the Ombudsman, this subject should be treated regularly in the Republic of Macedonia since it will contribute positively to the society in general.
“Having in mind the guaranties to the freedom of expression, the freedom to public information and the importance of the professional journalism, from the point of view of the respect for democracy, I am on opinion that future efforts should be directed to formation of healthy critical conscious and publicity” said Mr. Memeti.
For the “The role and the practice of the Broadcasting Council” the president of this institution Mr. Zoran Trajchevski spoke, while as Mr. Gérard Fellous, expert for human rights in France spoke about “Universal standards of freedom of expression. Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights concerning France”. The former judge of the European Court for Human Rights, Ms. Margarita Caca Nikolovska, spoke about “The experience of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the freedom of expression”, while as Ms. Vesna Shopar, professor at the school of journalism and public relations spoke about “The experience and the achievement of trainings and education of journalists in respect to freedom of expression”.
Journalists, editors, representatives from the independent union of journalists participated into discussion.
The round table was held in the frames of the twinning project as a support to the Macedonian Ombudsman, financed by the pre-accession funds of the European Union- IPA. Partners to the project are the Spanish national ombudsman and the French défenseur des droits.