Macedonia's A1 Takes Broadcasts to Govt Building

The broadcaster, which is critical of the government, says that the order to freeze the accounts has come directly from the centre-right VMRO DPMNE party, led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

In addition to freezing the A1 account on suspicion of tax fraud, the courts also froze the accounts of several other companies owned by A1 owner Velija Ramkovski, including the publishing house where three daily newspapers, Vreme, Spic and Koha e Re, are printed.

This is expected to effectively block the work of the three newspapers.

Government spokesman Martin Martinovski briefly rebuffed the acusations that the government stands behind the blocking of the accounts.

"This is a decision of the court," he said on Friday.

Most of the A1 staff gathered in front of the government building on Thursday night for the evening news broadcast, and they say they will stay and continue airing live programming until the accounts are reopened.

“It is sad that [Nikola] Gruevski understands democracy this way,” the editor-in-chief of A1, Mladen Cadikovski, said. “He thinks that the media should only praise him and his work”.

A1 has complained of government interference in the past, and the TV station says that the freezing of its accounts is the latest example of the pressure it faces.

This week, A1 started collecting signatures from viewers and public figures who support it remaining on air.

“Our goal is to alert the public to a problem that goes beyond A1 - a problem that concerns freedom of the entire media in the country," Cadikovski, told Balkan Insight.

On Wednesday, the actor and TV show host Toni Mihajlovski opened the central news programme as a way of expressing support for the station.

“We will continue hosting guests and public figures, professors, intellectuals and actors, who whish to support us by contributing to our programme as news presenters, editors or commentators," Candikovski explained.

The TV faced a threat of closure in December when police arrested its owner, the controversial businessman Velija Ramkovski, on suspicion of financial crimes. Ramkovski and 13 associates remain in detention, suspected of tax evasion, financial fraud and money-laundering.

In November, special police units were deployed in front of the broadcaster while financial inspectors raided the building. While the TV at the time complained of intimidation, police and inspectors insisted that the TV station was not a target.

Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said that other companies registered at the same address and connected with Ramkovski were being targeted.

Cadikovski said that the TV station still experienced pressure from the authorities, who he said were hampering the work of the station by throwing up “technical and administrative obstacles”.

Ramkovski and his TV were once seen as close to Gruevski's government, which who took power in 2006.

But the TV started criticising his government after snap polls in 2008, when Gruevski retained power, winning even more support than before.

A1 is the oldest private national broadcaster in Macedonia. It started airing in the early 1990s, shortly after the country declared independence.

Insufficient media freedom has been mentioned in repeated international reports on the country over the past years. The issue was highlighted in last year's report by the European Commission.