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Dragan Pavlović Latas

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Dragan Pavlović Latas (Macedonian: Драган Павловиќ Латас, born 1960) is a Macedonian journalist. He served as the managing editor of the national TV Sitel, and daily newspaper Večer.

Biography

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Dragan Pavlović Latas was born in Skopje on 25 February 1960.[1] Pavlović is a Serb.[2] In the 1980s, he graduated in economics from the University of Belgrade. In that period, he began his journalistic career, serving as the journalist of Yugoslav Macedonian newspaper Mlad Borec from 1980 to 1984. In the 1990s, he served as the editor of Radio Kanal plus and Radio Fox in Skopje. In 2005, he graduated in political science from FON University. He is a member of the Macedonian Association of Journalists and served as its general secretary.[1][3]

He served as the main editor of the newspaper Večer and the national channel Sitel. On 17 May 2006, on the International Day against Homophobia, the Macedonian Association for Free Sexual Orientation (MASSO) declared him as the most homophobic public person of the year. Pavlović has written homophobic articles and columns such as "Faggotology", "Assholes and Butt holes", "Eurovision", etc. In his column "Faggotology," Pavlović wrote: "And faggots are nothing else but people who commune with those like themselves. A closed circle. They are afraid of those who are different."[4][5] He received a master's degree from the European University Skopje in 2009.[1]

He was accused of cooperating with the Serbian secret service during the Yugoslav Wars by the Macedonian newspaper Vreme (Time) in 2010.[6][7][8] In December 2011, he received a PhD in the field of marketing.[9] In 2014, he was subject to criticism by ethnic Albanian journalists and non-governmental organizations for saying that ethnic Macedonians should vote "massively" for prime minister Nikola Gruevski and the political party VMRO-DPMNE to prevent Albanian from becoming the second official language in the country.[10] In 2016, after Pavlović had apologized for the speech, Macedonian Turks protested outside pro-government Sitel's headquarters in Skopje and asked him to resign, after he told opposition leader Zoran Zaev in an interview: "You are lying like a Turk."[11] After the interview, local journalist associations assessed his conduct as being below journalistic standards and that he used hate speech and insults. The interview was condemned by the Media Information Agency, which stated that he did not respect journalistic standards while interviewing Zaev.[12] The Council on Media Ethics of Macedonia, the Turkish embassy in Macedonia and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia and Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services also condemned his conduct.[3][13][14] On the other hand, the Macedonian Association of Journalists expressed support for Pavlović.[14] In 2025, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia and the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers condemned his public statements, in which he targeted journalists from media outlets such as Investigative Reporting Laboratory, 360 Degrees and BIRN Macedonia, through a private Facebook page, by misusing private photographs from their profiles and using them in his statements.[15]

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On 4 July 2019, the Judicial Council at the Criminal Court of Skopje acquitted Pavlović and his brothers for unauthorized construction of villas in Zelenikovo.[16]

In 2023, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers and the Council for Ethics in the Media of Macedonia condemned the speech that incites violence and stimulates gender discrimination that appeared on a video on YouTuber Stefan Lazarov's podcast on YouTube, in which Pavlović shared that as a teenager he participated in sexually harassing and raping a girl, laughing about it with Lazarov.[17] In response, the Cybercrime Department of the Ministry of Interior submitted a report to the Skopje Prosecutor's Office, after which an investigation was opened, and the video was removed from YouTube.[18] On 21 February, the Skopje Prosecutor's Office indicted him and Lazarov for "spreading racist and xenophobic material via an information system".[19] He and Lazarov were initially convicted, but after an appeal, the Skopje Court of Appeal had the case returned for a retrial. The Skopje Criminal Court acquitted him and Lazarov in the retrial in March 2026.[18][20]

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Македонска енциклопедија [Macedonian Encyclopedia] (in Macedonian). MANU. 2009. p. 1103.
  2. ↑ "Синови". Večer (in Macedonian). Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Драган Павловиќ – Латас". Vistinomer (in Macedonian). 25 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Krasimira Daskalova; Caroline Hornstein Tomić; Karl Kaser; Filip Radunović, eds. (2012). Gendering Post-socialist Transition: Studies of Changing Gender Perspectives. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 175. ISBN 9783643902290.
  5. ↑ "Dragan Pavlovikj – Latas is the most homophobic public person". Civic World. 17 May 2006.
  6. ↑ "Латас бил соработник на српската тајна служба". Vreme (in Macedonian). 18 January 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2010.
  7. ↑ "Who tried to burn down the US embassy in Skopje in 1999?". IntelNews. 19 January 2010.
  8. ↑ "Macedonia Editor to Sue over Serbian Spy Claims". Balkan Insight. 18 January 2010.
  9. ↑ "Драган Павловиќ Латас докторира". Večer (in Macedonian). 11 December 2011. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Macedonian Editor Accused of Ethnic Hate Speech". Balkan Insight. 4 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Turks protested outside TV "Sitel": "Come out Latas, if you have any dignity"". Meta.mk. 11 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "The leader of the opposition party in Macedonia was insulted in an interview on Sitel". Vijesti. 11 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "The Council of Ethics: Latas abused his position as a journalist, editor and host". Meta.mk. 11 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Медиумите губитници во мечот Латас - Заев". Utrinski vesnik (in Macedonian). 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 25 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "ЗНМ и ССНМ: Осуда за малициозното таргетирање на новинари и медиуми од Драган Павловиќ Латас". Meta.mk (in Macedonian). 27 February 2025.
  16. ↑ "Dragan Pavlovic-Latas is declared innocent". Telegrafi. 4 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Journalists' Associations Condemn Latas' Speech And 'YouTuber' Inciting Violence". Sloboden Pecat. 2023.
  18. 1 2 "2026 Sloboden Pecat article". Sloboden Pecat. 2026.
  19. ↑ "Dragan Pavlovic – Latas and Stefan Lazarov charged for promoting violence against women". Meta.mk. 21 February 2023.
  20. ↑ "Кривичниот суд ги ослободи Драган Павловиќ-Латас и Стефан Лазаров за подкастот во кој се исмеваше силување". Meta.mk (in Macedonian). 5 March 2026.


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