The foreign minister of the regime in Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, invented an excuse, for the third time, to avoid a court hearing against him on December 26, 2023 for violations of the Law on Civil Liability for Insult and Defamation. The first two occurrences were on May 29, 2023 and September 15, 2023. Each time Osmani claimed "unavoidable obligations", despite knowing the court dates well in advance. The latter two were scheduled to be the final hearings in the lawsuit brought by Macedonian Human Rights Movement International and its president, Bill Nicholov.

Osmani slandered MHRMI and Nicholov because of their activism in defending rights of Macedonians, in this case, the severely oppressed Macedonian minority in Bulgaria — a tactic frequently used by the regime and its US government backers.

The regime in Macedonia was installed by the United States to benefit its own foreign policy and to force through the highly derogatory name change to "North Macedonia", followed by further acts aimed at destroying Macedonians' ethnic identity and is notorious for its brutal crackdown on human rights and dissent, much of which is executed through complete US/regime control of Macedonia's judiciary. See report here.

Trajce Torov, lawyer for MHRMI and Nicholov, said, "Once again, Osmani refused to appear in court, showing complete disrespect for the court and a dereliction of duties. His prolonging of the hearings twice — highly unusual, if not impossible in Macedonian law — are clear signs of his arrogance and guilt."

See the ruling by the court in favour of 360 Degrees, a US-funded, pro-regime media outlet in Macedonia, despite its editor, Vasko Popetrevski, admitting in open court that they defamed MHRMI and Nicholov.

MHRMI President, Bill Nicholov, stated, "By employing these tactics, Osmani is inadvertently aiding in our exposé of the regime. Every illegal, anti-democratic, and anti-human rights action taken by them is brought to the world's attention by MHRMI. Also, as Osmani should — but clearly doesn't — know is that 'friends' of the US will be abandoned by the US. He simply needs to ask Zoran Zaev."

Background information on the court proceedings is available here.

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. MHRMI demands respect for Macedonia's name, identity and human rights for oppressed Macedonians in the Balkans. For more information: 1-416-850-7125, info@mhrmi.org, mhrmi.org, twitter.com/mhrmi, facebook.com/mhrmi, instagram.com/MacedonianHumanRights #OurNameIsMacedonia