Skopje, June 18, 2013 – UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Frank La Roux, visited today the Broadcasting Council. The meeting was attended by Mr. Marcelo Dyer and Mr. Stee Asbjornsen from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN.
The purpose of the visit to Macedonia by Mr. La Roux is to see and assess the situation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the country, the measures undertaken for its implementation and overcoming of obstacles.
At the meeting the attendees discussed issues related to supervision and economic performance of media, protection of minors audience, realisation of the rights of the various ethnic communities in the media, hate speech, rules on advertising and sponsorship, as well as political advertising during elections.
The Broadcasting Council, inter alia, takes into account the protection of freedom of expression, stated the President of the Broadcasting Council, PhD Zoran Trajchevski, stressing that, given the number of broadcasters in Macedonia, hate speech does not appear often in their programmes