Wednesday, 12 November, 2025
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Author: Silvana Zezova

Activist Pavle Bogoevski’s Court Hearing Postponed Until November 14

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The court hearing for the activist from the “Colourful Revolution” Pavle Bogoevski has been postponed to November 14 because the Prosecution’s proposal lacked the amount of material damage caused to the Ministry of Culture.

“The Prosecution’s proposal was not only politically motivated, it was a call for the persecution of all the people protesting, but it was disastrously ill-prepared and legally unsustainable. The prosecution had the nerve to start proceedings without previously calculating the damage. Today, their idea was to offer a representative from the Ministry of Culture, who should state the alleged damages. Meanwhile, the prosecution continues to ignore the real crime in the country”, said activist Bogoevski.

He added that he pleaded innocent at the hearing, and was part of a group Zvrlevski called a mob, but does not acknowledge any guilt.

Bogoevski’s lawyer, Saso Dukoski said that the defense of this case so far has prepared three witnesses who will help determine the true factual situation, as for today’s hearing, it was postponed so the prosecution could calculate the damage caused to the Ministry of Culture.  

The activist of the “Colourful Revolution” said the organization will continue to provide support to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, and yesterday’s failure to amend laws which the SPO have requested is direct form of violation of their authority.

During the Bogoevski’s hearing, many people gathered outside Basic Court Skopje 1 in support for Bogoevski.

“Student Plenum”: You can tell the court who gave the order for the RDU to use excessive force

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Students from the “Student plenum” demand a response who ordered the use of force without a legal basis for the members of the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) and armored vehicles to be deployed yesterday in front of SPUKM, where members of the Student Parliament were locking the ballot boxes for Student President elections.

At today’s protest in front of SPUKM, members of the “Student plenum” said security forces used excessive force to free the space in front SPUKM where students waited for hours to bring the boxes which had all the ballots from the vote. In the small clash with the police, some of the students received injuries.

Today, the police are also securing the SPUKM building, however, students standing right in front of the police asked them publicly whether they protect criminals and beat students who seek justice.

“We demand a response from the director of RDU who order the beating of students. We call on the Minister of Interior, Mitko Chavkov, and the director of the Rapid Deployment Unit to not beat students for violating the Law on Public Hygiene. You can give their answer to the court because you will be held responsible for using force without any legal grounds. Your uniform means duty and an obligation to protect citizens and to enforce the Constitution and laws, not to beat kids”, said Ivana Tufegdzhikj from the “Student plenum.”

They reminded everyone that during yesterday’s voting in the election for President of the Student Parliament, they had reported irregularities such as theft of boxes and election materials.

Protesters threw several eggs at the building SPUKM, from where they marched to UKIM.

Students protesting tonight had support from their parents and associations like the “Colourful Revolution.”

The Rectory of the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” (UKIM) has called an emergency meeting for Monday, starting at 8:00 am.

 

 

 

“Colourful Revolution”: Poverty is the worst form of fascism

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The whole street in front of Parliament was painted in the colours of the “Colourful Revolution”, as today’s protest was dedicated to Darko Markovik, the well-known author, cartoonist and satirist – Pecko.

At the protest, journalist Branko Geroski spoke, and asked everyone to hold a one minute silence in tribute to Darko Markovik – Pecko, after the one minute silence, out of respect it was met with a thundering applause.

“Darko Markovik was a rare intellect, and he knew that the real professionals express their criticism through skepticism, suspicion, and then faith. When I saw him last, two months ago, he told me he was sorry that he would not live long enough to see freedom in the country”, said Geroski.

Member of the Levica party, Mariglen Demiri expressed his happiness and delight at the court’s decision today, to lift house arrest restrictions on his fellow party members, Zdravko Saveski and Vladimir Kunovski.

“Without democracy, there can not be freedom, but without social rights, there is no democracy, love, freedom, and dreams. They destroyed our dreams. They divided us ethnically and with party affiliation. We have hit hard. Poverty is the worst form of fascism. This generation will never be played again”, said Demiri.

He stated that the Macedonian society suffers from inequality in the health system, inequality in the courts, really bad education and a corrupt government.

 

Protesters started their daily march from the Special Prosecutor’s Office and headed towards Parliament and coloured the facade with the help of a slingshot.
Outside the Parliament, in huge letters protesters wrote the number 8, to remind the authorities that they are counting the days until their deadline for their demands, and there is 8 more days until June 18.

 

The “Colourful Revolution” has blocked more crossroads across Skopje than they had announced

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The “Colourful Revolution” today at 12:00 noon blocked more crossroads than they had announced in the centre of Skopje today. Besides the three crossroads they had announced previously that they were going to block, they took more guerrilla-action, and also blocked the crossroad outside the Ministry of Economy, which came to a surprise to today’s drivers.

Beforehand, police officers had cleared the anticipated traffic jams on the crossroads, which while they were blocked, drivers remained calm.

The “Colourful Revolution” had announced that they would be taking different measures and more guerrilla-style-action until the 18th of June, which is the deadline they have given for the political crisis to come to an end. Their demands include the President’s resignation, the formation of a technocratic administration, the release of all detained protesters and the implementation of fair elections with a clean electoral roll.

Protesters declare: With one party, there is no choice, and there will be no elections on June 5!

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

There can not be one-party elections, Parliament must assemble and withdraw its decision to hold elections on June 5, was the message tonight from protesters of the “Colourful Revolution”. According to them, the Government wants to legalise their dictatorship.

Demonstrators left their trademark of colour across Parliament, and on the street, they wrote in large letters, “You can not wipe out the Colourful Revolution 2016”.

 

The Chairwoman of the Committee for Labour and Social Policy from the SDSM, Mila Carovska, called on Parliament to assemble and withdraw the decision to go to the polls on June 5.
“With one party, there is no choice, and there will be no elections on June 5! We pretend to have state, we pretend to have a democracy, but what we really have is a dictatorship and was paid for worth 7,5 million euros”, said Carovska.

As a representative from leftist organisations, Zoran Vasilevski recalled that former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski came to power in more or less democratic system through a television station, he later destroyed.

“Our position is clear from May the 5th. We will protest because we don’t agree with partial solutions in a country where young people are leaving. I find myself in a situation trying to convince a friend not to go abroad, and not to leave the country but with no good arguments”, said Vasilevski.

Demonstrators say that the pardoned political elite can not run the country, these are people who call protesters hooligans, are the same people who have been stealing and turned it into a business.

The colouring continued from Parliament to the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where protesters for a second time hurled paint at the facade of the ministry and spray painted the message, “No justice, No peace”.

 

The protests traditionally started in front of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, and at the intersection of Mitroplit Teodosij Gologanov Boulevard and St Kliment Ohridski Boulevard, protesters wrote in colour on the asphalt, “Colourful Revolution Start”.

The protest ended in front of the Government building where activists armed with slingshots and balloons filled with paint tried to colour the facade of the building.

 

“The Youth are Gone, and Party Members are In” say demonstrators

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Today the “Colourful Revolution” are demonstrating against the “selling” of workers on minimum wages, and hurled paint at the Employment Agency (ESA) and the Ministry of Economy, and chanted “The Youth are Gone, Party Members are In,” and “Party Membership, and Through the Door you Go!”.

Before the protesters, spoke several students and a professor from the Faculty of Economics, Biljana Sekulovska-Gaber, who through personal experiences told her story of discontent over government policies.
Sekulovska-Gaber said that in this country nobody listens to the youth who are the future of the country, nor do they listen to the professors.

“I’m here every day and I have been protesting for seven years now. The first time I went out to protest was when they announced the “Skopje 2014” project. Seven years ago no one knew how far this madness would go. All this will end in the same place, where it started, the square with a huge protest by the “Colourful Revolution”, said Sekulovska-Gaber.

Viktor Mitrevski, who studies abroad said he did not want to look like his closest friends here, who had the best grades of their whole generation and end up abroad and work for a miserable salary. However, he said that there are those who are from Macedonia, and still managed to get into the world’s famous corporations.

“If we can succeed outside and lead successful companies, then we can do it here, and successfully lead this state”, said Mitrevski.

Radio presenter Peter Antevski said he is protesting because he does not want to get party membership just so he could get employment, he wants to be able to live a life without  having to consider going abroad because life is supposedly better there.

Last to address the crowd was activist Dejan Ljutkov , who said that the ‘Employment Agency’ is a euphemism for ‘Agency for deletion. He referred to the government’s measures to reduce employment and the way the Agency illegally deletes unemployment. He touched on foreign investments, and minimum wages provided by foreign investors because “the government promotes us, the people as cheap labour.”

“The government advertises us abroad, taking into account their statements for foreign offices and agents, we should be asking who in this story is tied to foreign services”, asked Ljutkov.

In his speech he also called for social justice. Tonight’s protests came to an end, and organizers urged more citizens to come out tomorrow before the SPO to express their anger.

Tonight, altogether there were 12 other protest across the country, and protests for the first time in come cities such as, Sveti Nikole, Krusevo and Vinica.

 

New “Monument” dedicated to all the stolen and laundered money by the Government

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Protesters tonight paint bombed the building which houses the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (DKSK). Activists from the “I protest” movement hurled balloons of paint at the building in a sign of revolt because they believe the Commission is deaf to the corruption within the government’s institutions.

Earlier protesters set up a ” new monument” – a washing machine for money – which symbolically represents all the laundered and stolen money by the government from 2006 to 2016. On the monument they wrote “We launder money 24/7, Government of the Republic of Macedonia, 2006-2016.”

 

 

Before heading towards the building of the DKSK, the protesters were in front of Parliament where former President of the Anti-Corruption Commission Dragan Malinovski spoke publicly and said that corruption in Macedonia has created its own system and that the state is now trapped by the regime which has perfected that system.

Before Parliament spoke Misha Popovik from the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” and said that the institutions have been kidnapped to serve high party officials.Clips from the “Bombs” were played which were leaked by opposition leader Zoran Zaev, where you can hear government officials taking bribes.

The protest ended peacefully and the protesters threw paint in front of Government with colours of the “Colouful Revolution.”

The protest originally began in front of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office, where citizens were given colourful balloons which had pinned to them photographs of the leader of the VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski, and other people who had been pardoned by President Gjorge Ivanov. The balloons were released to fly in front of Parliament.

 

Protests were also held tonight in Stip and Gevgelija where the old municipal buildings were “decorated” with balloons instead of paint.

At the protest before the MOI, people demanded responsiblity from Spasovski and announced new “initiatives” from the WMC

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Around a thousand citizens today responded to the call from the World Macedonian Congress (WMC) to show their anger against the Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, which according to the WMC, let individuals from the DUI party occupy the foundations of where the cross in meant to be constructed in Butel.

In front of the MOI, people gathered with placards that read “Oliver, why do you get paid?”, “Oliver, do your duty”, “Oliver, let the professionals do their work”, and many chanted “Resign”, “Macedonia, Macedonia” and “Traitor”.

Before the citizens spoke the President of the WMC, Todor Petrov who said that despite the physical assault upon him by the group led by Izet Mexhiti one week earlier, he mustered up the strength to attend the protest today.

He stated that he will request from Parliament that the Przhino Agreement be abolished, and in his own words, “to restore the constitutional order of the country”.
Petrov also went on to say as a sign of peace, on March the 13th, Sunday Forgiveness, he shall launch an initiative to build a church in the name Theofan Stilian Noli or better known as Fan Noli, the founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church. The church, according to the WMC’s initiative, will be located in between the Municipalities of Cair and Butel.

At the protest there wasn’t a large police presence and it ended peacefully with an applause and the song “A, bre Makendonche”.

Protest in front of the Constitutional Court: Judges who are influenced by Government should resign

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Hundreds of people protested again today before the Constitutional Court and demanded the resignation of the judges who voted in favour, to consider the initiative for the constitutionality of the law that dictates that people prosecuted or sentenced for electoral crime can not be pardoned.

Citizens chanted “Resign”, “Goodbye criminal gang”, “No Pasaran” and “We need to defend the Constitution from the Constitutional Judges.”

Uranija Pirovska of the Helsinki Committee said that the Constitutional Court was constituted to protect the Constitution, to protect the rights of the citizens, but after the current composition of judges voted, they are doing the opposite.

“The judges works directly under the baton of a criminal association. I will protest every day until these judges resign and until we liberate our institutions. No justice, no peace”, said Pirovska.

At today’s protest a several “bombs” were played out loud, which were published by opposition leader Zoran Zaev.

Citizens listened to the voices of the former head of UBK (The Security and Counter-Intelligence Agency) Sasho Mijalkov arranging how the Judges will vote in the Supreme Court and former Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska, who was heard saying, “We’ll grab the Gypsies by the ear and take them to vote”.
Citizens threw several eggs at the building of the court, although the façade had not been cleaned from the previous protests.

This protest is the fourth in a row and organized the civil society are “Ajde.”

At the foundations of the cross, it is quiet and peaceful, tents have been removed

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Today in Skopje’s neighborhood of Butel, the site where for two days citizens camped out who opposed the decision to set up a cross 55 meters high, is peaceful which is usual for a Saturday morning.

There is only more movement than usual, as vehicles head to the cemetery “Butel” due to the religious holiday “Saturday of Souls”.
Actually, it was the reason for the party’s leadership to remove the camp from where a week ago the cornerstone for the construction of the cross was laid.

It is unclear if the camp has been removed permanently or just for today’s Christian holiday. Now there are only teams at the site who are setting up a new palm tree, after one was burned down during the protests.

The tents are gone, and the only things that remains are the charred logs which burnt late into last night.
It’s peaceful now, and the places where last night citizens were stopped by police who wanted to defend the construction site of the cross.

Music, flags, tea and slogans at the “camp” at the foundations for the cross in Butel

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

With Albanian music playing beside the bonfire, at least fifty mostly young Albanians continue to protest where on Sunday foundations for the cross in Butel were consecrated.

The palm tree which was set alight and the foundations of the cross buried, which is meant to be 55 metres high, are just some signs of minor incidents from last nights protest.
The place remains a campsite, there are two small tents and one large tent. One reporter from “Meta” noted that free

food and drink are being handed out to those camping, as well as tea and coffee.

There are Albanian flags and slogans that read “Albanians, Muslims and Albanian Catholics against the placement of religious symbols”.

The interlocutors we talked to, say they will stay until the decision on building the cross is withdrawn.

“We are not against the building of a church, but we think that the place of a cross is not for here. If there were plans to build a church, there would be no reason to protest. I think this is just a provocation to the Albanians, but we will not allow it. If they want, they can freely build a lion”, says our interlocutor who insisted they remain anonymous.

According to the interlocutors, the protest is not political, but has members from different political parties. They say they will not give up their intentions to stop a cross from being built in this space.

A group of demonstrators led by the DUI party’s leadership yesterday protested in Butel where the cornerstone was placed for the cross. They pulled down the entire fenced area around the foundation and set up tents and Albanian flags.

 

Bedzeti: The economic part of the report of the EC is one of the most accurate in recent years

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The European Commission’s economic section is one of the most accurate and precise points which are also painful points in the Macedonian economy, says Professor and former Minister of Economy Abdulmenaf Bedzeti.
According to Bedzeti, the report is very clear and unambiguous, with no diplomatic vocabulary and no calculation as to how will be understood, it points out the problems and what should be done about them.
According to him, what the European Commission says is nothing new, but it is important who said it. He notes that economists warn us of this this since 2009.

SDSM: What else needs to happen for Todorov to step down?

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

 

The state of health care in Macedonia is in such a bad state that today doctor a was shot, and a another three people were injured in a shooting at the Clinic for Abdominal Surgery, was the opposition SDSM reaction to today’s incident.

“With Nikola Gruevski and Nikola Todorov, cowboy movies have become a reality even in our hospitals. It is unacceptable that in a clinical centre where on a daily basis thousands of people seeking medical assistance are coming and going, someone was allowed to be shot. Doctors in Public Health do not have basic working conditions and receive low wages. Because of the chaos in the Health System, doctors in Macedonia are threatened even in their workplace”, reacted SDSM.

SDSM say that Mr Todorov and Prime Minister Gruevski left physicians without any protection or security in the execution of the noblest work, caring for the health of the countries citizens.

German Embassy: We welcome the agreement and we expect a swift implementation

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Tonight the German Embassy welcomed the agreement by the parties and said it expects a swift implementation of the decisions.

“We welcome the (declarative) agreement reached by the parties, and now expect swift implementation of the decisions. The time until the elections is short and there will be fair conditions if everything is done what is agreed, we’ll see all in good time”, said in the letter to “Meta” from the German Embassy.

Tevdoski: Our goal is to beat inequality in society

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

At a press conference the President of the Commission of Economy at SDSM, Dragan Tevdovski, stated that their goal is to beat inequality in society and restore the middle class.

He recalled the four pillars of “Vision of Macedonia”.

“The first pillar prevents the misuse of state resources by a small group of people in power. The second pillar allows redistribution of income from the richest to the most impoverished citizens. The third pillar provides fair wages and employment through state support to domestic enterprises. The fourth pillar allows raising the most important spheres of society, such as education and health for successful European models”, Tevdovski said.

He also announced that the party is working on the fifth column, “Building one society”.

Goran Trajkovski dismissed from the position as Director of the Public Revenue Office

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Goran Trajkovski was dismissed from the post of Director of the Public Revenue Office (PRO), the decision was made at yesterday’s Government night session.

The new Director of the institution will be Kiril Minovski.

The Public Revenue Office was mentioned in the Priebe Report as an area that has strong criticism from the government, together with the opposition, and should arrange a change.

Goran Trajkovski’s name was mentioned in the “Bombs” published by SDSM, according to the opposition, he talked about the punishment and closure of companies and stores during the elections.

The government in August announced that a position would be opening up for appointing a new Director of the PRO, but Trajkovski remained its head and continued to lead the institution.

Goran Trajkovski was head of the PRO for nine years.

Kiril-Minoski
New Director of the PRO is Goran Minovski

Macedonia is 65th place according to the index of prosperity, out of 142 countries

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

Macedonia is 65th place out of 142 countries in the world, according to the Prosperity Index published by the British Institute “Legatum.”

The country is in 86th place in Economy, 57th place in Entrepreneurship and Opportunity, 70th place in Politics, 74th in Education, 50th in Health, 58th in Security, Personal Freedom in 83rd and 96th place in Social Capital.

Norway is the most prosperous country in the world, the seventh consecutive year running.

The debate on the budget in Parliament scheduled for November 16

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The dispute over the budget has been scheduled for November the 16th at 12:00 pm.

“The Government submitted the revised draft budget for 2016 to Parliament. The Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski scheduled another plenary session on November the 16th at 12:00 pm” announced the Cabinet of the President of Parliament.

SDSM: The PRO have no moral right to block the accounts of citizens for a broadcasting fee

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The opposition SDSM asks, with what right does the PRO (Public Revenue Office) have to threaten more than 27,000 citizens and businesses by blocking their bank account for the collection of a broadcasting fee?

According to the party, the latest data from the list of debtors, the Broadcasting Council of Macedonia owes nearly 800,000 euros.

“MTV, according to the same list, owes more than 1,700,000 thousand euros. More than 180,000 people living in Macedonia live on 40 denars per day. Macedonia, according to the institute “Kato”, are 12th on the list of the 180 poorest countries. More than 21,000 companies have already had their accounts frozen. Despite this situation, last year the PRO blocked more than 20,000 accounts, including those of citizens receiving social assistance, and even those of the unemployed”, said SDSM in a statement to the media.

The PRO will start blocking accounts for those who have not paid their TV License

Posted on by Silvana Zezova

The PRO (Public Revenue Office) will start taxing citizens with force by blocking the accounts of citizens who have outstanding debts for the broadcasting fee, otherwise known as the TV License.

“We call on all citizens who have arrears of the broadcasting fee to pay as soon as possible, so we do not have to submit them to the additional costs of enforced collections and blocking their accounts” stated the PRO.

Forced collection of the bills will start on the 15th of November.