The court today gave a not guilty sentence to Skopje Mayor Petre Silegov for his slanderous assault on Republika four years ago.

Silegov attempted to intimidate Republika by publishing false reports that the site was allegedly receiving public funds. He held a press conference oin front of the Republika office and waved with documents showing we were paid by the Government, and in the process revealed the personal information, including the home address, of Republika manager Done Donevski. One problem – the report about the public contract worth almost a million EUR was about a completely different company.

Republika decided to sue Silegov for damages to our reputation. What followed was a marathon trial before the basic and appeals court, during which judge Vesna Kalkovska did all she could to excuse the actions of Silegov, who was in the meantime elected Mayor of Skopje. She insisted that Silegov meant to reveal documents about the other company, even though he was holding his press conference in front of the Republika office, and was revealing the personal details of the Republika manager – that it was all an accidental press conference. After Republika pointed out his error, Silegov held a second pres conference, expanding his attack on other media outlets as well.

Finally today, weeks before the elections, at the height of the SDSM campaign against the critical press, the judge found Silegov not guilty in our slander case. Kalkovska insisted that Silegov did not slander Republika. She acknowledged that Republika never applied for the procurement contract nor received it, but that Silegov is still in the right. This sentence shows the near total control the SDSM party has over the judiciary and the one-sided distribution of justice