Public employees who exposed secret wiretapping under Prime Minister Gruevski deserve justice
22.11.2018 Gjorgji Lazarevski and Zvonko Kostovski, whose heroic disclosure of secret wiretapping led to the resignation of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in 2016, should be promptly reinstated to the public service positions they lost as retaliation, three NGOs demanded today.
Transparency International-Macedonia, the Southeast European Coalition on Whistleblower Protection, and the European Center for Whistleblower Rights have long advocated for the rightful reinstatement of Lazarevski and Kostovski to their jobs.
“Macedonia needs to stay strong in its fight against state capture that effectively started with the disclosure of secret wiretapping and grand corruption schemes led by former Prime Minister Gruevski,” said Slagjana Taseva, chair of Transparency International-Macedonia. “It is not right to speak about how important the fight against corruption is for justice in Macedonia without bringing justice for Lazarevski and Kostovski.”
“Reinstating these whistleblowers is the least to be expected after the Whistleblower Protection Law was adopted as a result of their disclosures and within subsequent political decisions, including establishing the Special Prosecutor’s Office that is leading the investigations,” Taseva said
While working as colleagues at the Macedonian Administration for Security and Counterintelligence, Lazarevski and Kostovski worked for three years to document improper wiretapping of an estimated 20,000 public officials, judges, business people, activists, journalists and other people viewed with suspicion by the Gruevski government.
The shocking revelation in 2015 led to Gruevski’s resignation, new elections in 2016, the formation of a new government in 2017, and the indictment of 94 people and seven companies. Earlier this month Lazarevski testified in the trial of more than 10 people charged in connection with the scandal.
“The importance of what Lazarevski and Kostovski did to clean up their country cannot be overstated,” said Kristina Stevancevic, co-coordinator of the Southeast European Coalition on Whistleblower Protection, based in Podgorica. “Their heroism extends beyond Macedonia. They are examples for all Europeans who should be celebrated.”
As retribution for revealing the wiretapping, Lazarevski and Kostovski were criminally charged and spent nearly a year in prison – much of which in solitary confinement. Eventually the dubious charged against both men were dropped.
“These two men have suffered enough,” said Mark Worth, executive director of the European Center for Whistleblower Rights, based in Berlin. “They cannot recover the time they unjustly sat in prison. Our basic notions of justice and common decency demand that they be reinstated to their jobs and fully compensated for all losses.”
The three NGOs have actively campaigned for Lazarevski and Kostovski for their financial losses. Transparency International Macedonia nominated the two for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Award for Journalists and Whistleblowers. The Southeast Europe Coalition gave Lazarevski and Kostovski the Free Speech Award at a public ceremony in Priština this past March. The European Center has urged activists and citizens worldwide to write letters to Macedonian officials in support of the whistleblowers.
Contacts
Slagjana Taseva
Transparency International Macedonia
staseva@transparency.mk
(+389) 70 342 961
Kristina Stevancevic
Southeast European Coalition on Whistleblower Protection
kristina.stevancevic@see-wb.org
(+41) 797 343 823
Mark Worth
European Center for Whistleblower Rights
mworth@whistleblower-rights.org
(+49) 176 630 94993
