Ministry of Interior is still waiting for a reply from the Prosecutor’s Office for the criminal charges against businessman Spiro Corogunov, owner of Hotel Alexandar 2, who on Saturday afternoon on May 18, attacked the owner of the small exchange office “Bis’, Branko Petrovski.
According to eyewitnesses, Corogunov attacked Petrovski right next to Hotel Alexandar 2, which is right next to café Garson and the exchange office. The serious incident took place during broad daylight in the very center of the city, when Corogunov threw the small sign of the exchange office that has been there for 19 years. After Petrovski tried to return the sign, Corogunov attacked him with punches, knocking him to the ground and continuing to hit him strongly in the area of the face.
The epilogue of the event is that Petrovski ended up in a hospital, at the Clinic of Neurosurgery, in a serious state of health, as a direct consequence of the attack against him. The police contacted Corogunov, who according to sources of CIVIL Media convinced the police officers to let him go because he had private obligations – having to go to a wedding. After the conversation ended in the police station, he managed to get to the wedding and even to post a photo on Facebook.
In the meanwhile, Petrovski that night, after the attack, is at home and suffocating in his own blood, because there was no room for him in the hospital “8 September” and the State Clinical Center, despite the broken jaw, nose and serious injuries to his eye.
“Enjoy Director. The man you beat up today is stable, but held in the hospital with severe injuries. But let me not ruin the wedding. Or perhaps you are already at an after. Enjoy and sleep peacefully tonight!”, commented Petrovski’s son that night on Corogunov’s photo.
Petrovski’s condition worsened even more, and the day after the attack he is admitted to the Clinic of Neurosurgery in a serious condition and is still there. Attacker Corogunov is still free. MOI is still waiting for guidelines from the Basic Prosecutor’s Office on the case. A video recording from a security camera has also been provided for this event, from which the attack can be clearly seen.
“We have still not received a reply from the Prosecutor’s Office in regards to the criminal charges. We have already informed that a conversation was held the same day with the suspect and the Prosecutor’s Office has been informed. We also informed the public about the case, and we will inform when the criminal charges are prepared”, stated MOI spokesperson Ivica Ilievski for CIVIL Media.
The neighbourhood knows Petrovski for 19 years as a calm, quiet and good neighbour, who recently had successfully battled cancer. Knowing his character, but surely also because of the therapies he is receiving, Petrovski was physically unable to defend himself. Immediately after the attack, Corogunov had told him that he was sorry he had not killed him.
“I don’t know if you know how it feels to see your parent beaten up. I do. It’s awful. It’s even worse to be helpless. My father is in the hospital, and the situation is the same, bad! This is a photo of the attacker. Spiro Corogunov. Next to it is my father’s exchange office with blood. Today I received recordings of the event. The surrounding shops gave me materials that their security cameras captured. If they don’t accept them as evidence, I will post them here. Until then, this is the disgusting face!”, posted the victim’s son on his Facebook profile, otherwise manager of the café Garson, which Corogunov, according to testimonies “disliked” from the first day when part of the building was converted to a hotel.
Corogunov is the owner of hotels “Alexandar Square” and “Alexandar 2” in the center of Skopje, the construction firm “Karaorman” and several other businesses. In the public his connection to some influential people of Gruevski’s regime is also known, with whom the justice is still fighting.
Biljana Jordanovska
