During yesterday’s hearing at the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje, 6 more defendants accused for the incidents that happened in front of the Parliament of North Macedonia on the 5th of July, during the protests against the French proposal, received conditional sentences. They pleaded guilty and received court sentences for “participating in mob violence.”
“All of the 6 defendants, pleaded guilty for the felony they were accused of, and considering all the circumstances, the court adopted the first-degree verdict and 4 defendants were conditionally sentenced for a period of two years imprisonment that will not be implemented if they don’t commit a new crime in the next 4 years. For two of the defendants, who turned 18 just before the event, the Court sentenced them to 1 year in prison, which will not be implemented if the defendants will not commit another crime in the next 3 years. The Court also issued another measure – “increased monitoring,” informed the Basic Criminal Court Skopje.
The defendants have the right to appeal against these verdicts at the Administrative Court in Skopje.
In the previous month, 7 defendants for the same felony also received conditional two-year sentences, for participating in mob violence, after they also pleaded guilty.
According to the Court’s findings, the defendants were accused of tearing down Parliament’s protective fence and from there they charged the police officers that were set in a formation to protect the building, with rocks, concrete slabs, iron objects, traffic signs and garbage bins. Tens of officers were injured by the attacks.