The Interior Ministry so far has identified and called in for questioning 14 people who are believed to have been part of the incidents during last week’s protest involving the so called ‘Monster’ case.
“Protests are a democratic way of expressing dissatisfaction with what is happening in the society. But they must not involve violations of the law and order,” Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski told a news conference Thursday.
He confirmed that charges were filed against the protest organizers for failing to follow the health protection guidelines. “However, charges will be pressed against all those who damaged state property, including police vehicles. They will be fined,” Spasovski said adding that 14 people who are believed to have been part in incidents have been called in for questioning.
Of those, one is a minor, he added.
Hundreds took to the streets in Skopje to demand the release of the defendants standing trial involving the Monster case. According to the protesters, they didn’t commit the 2012 killings they were charged with. Several protesters by the end of the protests started hurling stones and firecrackers at the police.
The protest was organized after the prosecutors in their closing statements at the trial demanded life sentences for the men charged with killing five people near Smilkovo Lake in April 2012.
