News Service: 217/97

16 DECEMBER 1997

AI INDEX: EUR 65/02/97

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Amnesty International considers case of Nikos Konstantinidis

On 10 December Evgenios Haitidis, a member of the Greek Parliament, sent a letter to the Greek Section of Amnesty International about the case of Nikos Konstantinidis (aka Nikola Mihailovski), a citizen of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, whom he stated was being persecuted because of his Greek ethnicity.

The letter was forwarded to the International Secretariat of Amnesty International where research is carried out on The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Since Amnesty International was not aware of the case, a reply was faxed to Evgenios Haitidis asking for further information to enable the human rights organization to contact Nikos Konstantinidis or his lawyer and seek details of his case. Due to the unavailability of a fax number for Evgenios Haitidis this fax was not sent until 12 December. Amnesty International has not received a reply from Evgenios Haitidis and has resent the message with a request for a reply.

Amnesty International will consider whether the case of Nikos Konstantinidis falls into its mandate and whether it is able to take action as soon as it obtains details of his case.

ENDS.../