For days I have been facing an army of patronage operatives / Marjana Koçeku: Giving up my mandate would be easy, but I am not used to clearing the way for “evil”…

In a public statement, MP Marjana Koçeku, who left the Socialist Party several weeks ago and is continuing her mandate as an independent, says that for several days she has been facing an organized campaign of attacks on social media.

She says fake profiles have been confronting her and calling on her to give up her mandate, but stresses that she has no intention of stepping down.

“For several days I have been facing on social media a virtual army of patronage operatives and fake profiles demanding that I give up my mandate.

Giving up my mandate would be very easy. But I am not used to clearing the way for evil, which has also taken the form of these virtual mercenaries, organized by their commanders – officials of this state – to smear and denigrate me simply because I chose independence in parliamentary representation.

It is said that there are some 800 thousand such profiles circulating. Municipalities have turned into garrisons of these mercenaries and exert daily pressure through words in comments and posts.

The spoken word has never been abused more in the history of this country’s democracy. And now, in a time of protest, their total mobilization can be seen to destroy and denigrate anyone who is critical of the government.

I knew that the price of speaking freely would be high, but silence would have cost much more in this republic that seeks to fight its own citizens with ghosts, the shadows of patronage operatives, and fake profiles.

This should not be a republic of falsehood and online ghosts,” Marjana Koçeku writes.