Macedonia Shines Light On Totalitarian Past With New Lustration Law

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By Aleksandar Pavlevski

The new law on lustration, passed in June, aims to remove from public office all former police informers and those who collaborated with the communist totalitarian regime. And beyond that, it would make public all such information: police files on former informants would be published online. Furthermore, the new law allows the investigation of those in the business community who may have profited through such links up until 2006.

“The new law on lustration is much better than the one that was previously adopted,” Tome Adziev, president of the Commission for Verification of Facts told SETimes. “Not only public officials, the law also includes people that acquired large businesses in the investigated period. Lustration will be performed on businessman suspected of [gaining their] capital because of the proximity with the police at the expense of the people.”

The bill, submitted by the main ruling party VMRO DPMNE, was supported by its Albanian partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, as well as two other Albanian parties: the NDP and DPA. The opposition Social Democrats voted against it.

The VMRO-DPMNE proposed this new, more narrowly focused law, after the Constitutional Court in late March suspended 12 controversial regulations contained in the previous lustration law, adopted in 2008.

VMRO-DPMNE deputy Antonio Milososki told fellow lawmakers that the process will make Macedonia a more democratic society.

“This law should reveal whether, for example a judge in Skopje, Bitola, Ohrid and Kicevo had a nice career because he was a good lawyer or a good collaborator of the secret services,” Milososki noted.

The opposition Liberal Party’s Ivon Velickovski disagreed, telling lawmakers “I am from the party that in 2006 proposed a law for lustration. And now I am for lustration, but not in this way.” He is convinced that the government will use the law to select the candidate lists for councilors and mayors during the next local elections.

Other opponents have said the law violates the constitutional principles that guarantee the protection of personal integrity and personal data. They suspect that the law will be used to discredit members of the opposition.

Adziev stressed that there will be no confiscation of property or nationalisation. Lustration, he insisted, is about giving people the truth about certain prominent persons.

Unofficially, the number of suspected collaborators could total several thousand people.

“I would say that we must first see how it works in practice and to see functioning of the Commission with new legislative changes. Right now the Commission [has been] given a great and powerful weapon in that they can publish parts of files. The moral of the lustration is that clearing the totalitarian past is a process in Macedonia,” Ivica Bocevski, a member of the first working group that helped draft the measure, told SETimes.

SETimes

The Southeast European Times Web site is a central source of news and information about Southeastern Europe in ten languages: Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, English, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian and Turkish. The Southeast European Times is sponsored by the US European Command, the joint military command responsible for US operations in 52 countries. EUCOM is committed to promoting stability, co-operation and prosperity in the region.

6 thoughts on “Macedonia Shines Light On Totalitarian Past With New Lustration Law

  • July 3, 2012 at 1:35 pm
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    I hope,Crvenkovski and Frckovski will be exposed on profiting from the sale of oil to Serbia and others while they were in office.
    Long ago,I said that Frckovski being the interior minister had everything to do with attempted assasination of former president Gligorov.Gligorov was not about to sell Macedonia to the Greeks as Frckovski was on the Greek payroll puting preasure on the president to change Macedonias identity,language etc. It is time the criminals to be exposed and dealt with.
    Alexander did deal with his general Philotas,it is time for Gruevski to do the same as our ancestors did!

    Reply
  • July 4, 2012 at 12:42 am
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    The skopjian government thinks that by passing sedition laws on our people they will be able to root out traitors. The Slavs of FYROM forget that communism was supported by all government structures and there are many guilty of undermining the state.

    Our indigenous Albanian people of FYROM have kept open all communications with the Slavs of the skopjia government to assist but not to allow unwarranted allegations against Slavs who were probably despised by other rival Slav factions to be granted.

    This law is nothing but a ploy of one envious Slav government faction coming out to carry out a revenge attack on another Slav party. All these non-indigenous Slavs of FYROM who have taken part in this absurd law are guilty of attempting to rid freedom of speech.

    Reply
    • July 4, 2012 at 1:47 pm
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      Sam,you are giving me the impresion that you are an Albanian,at the same time you are posing as a Greek.Which is it?
      Are you in the same circle as Crvenkovski,Frckovski and Georgievski the biggest treators of a nation?
      The Albanian parties in Macedonia do support the lustration.
      I do hope,this law will expose those mentioned on my comment and dealet with as our ancestors did.

      Reply
  • July 5, 2012 at 4:21 am
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    Not all indigenous Albanians of FYROM support laws that are created to settle rivalries. We the indigenous people of FYROM do not need to pose like other etnicities. We are proud of our ancient lands and Illyrian ancestors.

    It seems confusing to us why you have Slavic backgrounds and yet build statues that pose to have Greek ancestry like Alexander and Philip. We know that before the Bulgarians came to our lands on what is now FYROM only our Illyrian ancestors lived here and in the south of the modern border only the Greek peoples and tribes lived.

    Many indigenous people of FYROM respect the skopjian government and its Slavic leaders here on our ancient lands but we also respect the fact that when your forefathers migrated here in 700-900AD many of the Bulgarian settlers were decent people.

    These people that you call traitors are no more bad than many of the Slavic leaders in power today. They are all interest based and highly corrupt politicians cloaked in a Democracy cloaked veneer. But this is also the same with our indigenous leaders who represent our many different Albanian groups.

    Politics is politics and everyone is deemed corrupt unless proven otherwise.

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    • July 5, 2012 at 7:02 pm
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      Sam,I agree on some of your comments,but calling me a Slav-Macedonian, I don’t apreciate. Here is why;we are Macedonians who speak the slavic language same as the Russians,Serbians,Ukrainians and Bulgarians. You and your Greek friends love to distort the truth.Our ancestors were the proto Macedonians who were in this area for over 4 thousand years.The myth that the Macedonians came at the 6th century is fabrication by the Greeks who want to claim our history as theirs.
      Just for your information,Greeks have no connection to ancient Hellens.When Greece became as a country the majority were Albanians,Vlahs,Turks,Roma and others.The language spoken then was latin.This is why in 1856-58 they had to devise a new language,called”Dimotiki”and everyone had to learn this language.In 1858 the editor of the largest Albanian newspaper was poisoned so they can shut down this paper written in Albanian.
      About 125 years ago the president of Greece Papulias his ancestors changed their name(Sulayman)to Papulias.Furtheremore,27 out of 57 Prime Ministers of Greece were Albanians.
      As head of state,Papulias must have been very proud when in Athens the Greek army did sing”Macedonians and Albanians,we will make clothes out of your skins”.The 27PM and todays President must be very happy!
      Now,if you ever read Alineis findings,you will understand the real truth.If you are interested,next time I will post his findings as well as from others.
      Lets touch a bit on the Macedonian-Albanian issue.The Albanian minority in Macedonia are enjoying all the freedoms that the Macedonians have.For example,the Minister of the Army is Albanian,the Albanian party of Thaci is in government and many more.The Macedonians in Albania,the south east of Albania have no right to learn their mother tonque,they are not recognized as ethnic Macedonians.The Albanian government threatened the Macedonians in Golo Brdo with 1000 euro fine if they re-opened the schools in Macedonian,this just happened during the last census.Now,tell me who has more freedom,the Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia or the ethnic Macedonians in Albania?
      I can tell you one thing,I am happy that both ethnics live in peace,and work together with Arifi to joing the EU.I have high respect for all minorities in Macedonia,I don’t have that where I was born in Aegean Macedonia!
      Sam,have a nice day!

      Reply
  • July 6, 2012 at 1:05 am
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    I’m sorry Mr. Peter but you are first a Slav person from FYROM and you are not here before the indigenous Illyrian people of skopjia area and most of FYROM. This so-called proto people of FYROM land was always the indigenous Ilyrians since 4000 years. The Bulgarians came here to our sacred land in 700-900AD not before. We also know that the Greek people live in the south for thousands of years like my ancestors live on the ancinet land of FYROM and was called Illyria.

    The skopjia government was is only 50 years old and all the Yugislav people were later changed to Slavs. Many of my people have always called the Slavs Bulgarians but later changed only to Slavs because some from the skopjia government don’t like to be called Bulgarian anymore. But ther are many who call themselves Bulgarians in skopjia.

    This confuses our indigenous Albanian peoples because the Slavs build statues which we all know only belong to the Greek people in the south area, only they have Alexander and Philip because they were Greek people not Slavs.

    Why you ashame of your Bulgarian roots is difficult for many indigenoius Albanians to understand. When the Bulgarians settled on our land that is now FYROM they were not to primitive and dangerous. Now the Slavic leaders of skopjia think they can have Greek history this is not right. The Greeks have a long history like our Illyrian forefathers and this is very true.

    Maybe Mr. Peter when you stop hating Albanians and Greeks then you can understand how wrong this lustartion laws are in our country. They make you bitter about my indigenous people and worse you hate your Slavic brothers who you think are bad.

    Many Slavs from skopjia government are corrupt, self-serving, and only looking out for their own interests and they are no better than other bad people in the Slav opposition. For many years the skopjia government has some corrupt people who have been supported by bad people, this Mr. Peter you have to realise.

    Our Indigenous Albanians are willing to live peacefully with the Slavs of skopjia but this must be mutual and not this big racism that exists among many young Slav skopjian residents. Everytime we move in skopjia many people don’t feel safe, this is no good for a country that wants EU. When Slavic racism drops in skopjia then people will have a better
    life.

    Reply

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