The controversial draft law “On civil liability for insult and defamation”, which is very similar and reminiscent of the laws on verbal offenses of one-party and autocratic regimes, proposed by the Government of SDSM and DUI, through the Ministry of Justice, has recently entered Parliament procedure but provoked strong reactions from the public and legal experts.
VMRO-DPMNE MP Mile Lefkov confirmed that the draft law on civil liability for insult and defamation had arrived in the Parliament from the Ministry of Justice and reacted on Facebook.
“The government demands legal responsibility for expressing a NEGATIVE OPINION! Responsibility for opinion?What is next – police for thoughts?” Lefkov asks.
Article 6 of the draft law, in the section liability for insult and defamation, reads: “publishing or otherwise expressing a derogatory, degrading or negative opinion.”
This means that citizens will be sanctioned for a negative opinion, for instance about the work of a government minister, official, mayor, etc.
