Jasmina Golubovska, who planted crimson kiss on riot shield, says it is a civic duty to continue demonstrating against government

Pressed up against riot police lined up outside the Macedonian government building, a young woman was photographed applying her lipstick, staring straight into the reflective plastic shield in front of her. As the policemen moved forward, later photos show, one shield had the mark of a crimson kiss.

The woman’s calm defiance in the crush at last week’s anti-government demonstrations was shared widely on Facebook and Twitter, first by young Macedonians and then around the world.

Molly Crabapple (@mollycrabapple) This woman is everything pic.twitter.com/XKySELebVT

She is Jasmina Golubovska, a 30-year-old political analyst for the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, and a seasoned activist campaigning to hasten the downfall of a government accused by its opponents of mass wiretapping, cronyism and the cover-up of a young man’s killing.

More than 1,000 protesters clashed with riot police in the capital, Skopje, demonstrating against the alleged cover-up of the killing of 22-year-old Martin Neskovski, who is said to have been beaten to death by an interior ministry policeman in 2011.

“Neskovski’s brother and mother had pushed to the front of the crowds and towards the parliament building. Our natural instinct was to go towards them, to shield them, because we saw the police were being quite pushy,” Golubovska told the Guardian. “The riot police in full equipment were suddenly across the parliament building, ready to meet us.”

Trapped against the shields and unable to get closer to the government buildings, Golubovska was at the front for two hours without moving. “I was talking to the policeman, saying gently to him that he should join us, that he didn’t have to follow orders, his duty was to the people and the constitution,” she said.

“I told him my father was a retired police officer, I told him that I understood how hard it was for him. And then I asked if I could draw a heart on his shield, but he didn’t like that at all.”

With the lipstick in her hand, she asked if she could use his shield as a mirror. “And then I very quickly kissed the shield,” she said. “He didn’t move but I did see him smile, very slightly.”

Allegations over Neskovski’s death have emerged from the latest in a series of leaks from a treasure trove of wiretaps obtained by the Social Democrat opposition leader, Zoran Zaev, who claims he was given them by a whistleblower.

It was reported this week that Macedonia’s interior minister was allegedly among those who conspired to cover-up the killing, at a rally Neskovski attended in support of the prime minister.

It is alleged that the government has wiretapped more than 20,000 people ranging from the media and judiciary to police and diplomats. The government denies the allegations.

“We have been protesting for a long time, calling for the government to resign en masse, but [the revelations about] Neskovski was a particularly strong emotion for a lot of people, we have demonstrated every year since he died,” Golubovska said. “The government have been lying to the people from their own mouths and through the media – for so many years, blatantly lying.”

More mass protests in the capital are being organised for this Sunday, to demand the resignation of the prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, and to call for the release of two student leaders currently in detention.



“It is our civic duty and we won’t stop until we have a new interim government to appoint new unpartisan judges and prosecutors, until new elections,” she said.

Golubovska said she had been inundated with messages from Macedonians saying her picture had inspired them to come out to protest. “That is most important to me, they said that they know now they should not be afraid,” she said. “But, yes, it is a little bit strange for me,” she added.