North Macedonian Court Convicts Ethnic Albanians of Terrorism

North Macedonia, which has a history of ethnic tension, has convicted several ethnic Albanians of terrorism (China Observers).

A North Macedonian court convicted five ethnic Albanians of terrorism in the retrial of a murder case on February 23. In response, ethnic Albanians took to the streets a few days later to protest allegations of evidence-tampering and a politically-motivated cover-up.

The court sentenced Agim Ismailovic, Afrim Ismailovic, and Alil Demiri to life in prison for the killings of four ethnic Macedonian men between the ages of 18 and 20 and one 45-year-old Macedonian in 2012. Only Agim Ismailovic was present at the retrial; the other two were tried in absentia. Another two defendants were sentenced to 15 and nine years in prison respectively as accessories. 

The case was a retrial of a June 2014 ruling which sentenced all five defendants to life in prison. The convictions sparked widespread backlash from ethnic Albanians and spurred speculation that authorities planted evidence so that the accused would serve as a political scapegoat. Hopes for an acquittal were intensified in 2015 after the opposition leader from the Social Democrats suggested that wiretapped conversations confirmed a cover-up by authorities.

Though the motives of the killings remain unclear, some theorize that they were ethnically motivated. Prosecutors advocated for a conviction on the grounds of terrorism for encouraging ethnic conflict and destabilizing the community, arguing that the event could have incited repeated violence.

The small Balkan country, split primarily between ethnic Macedonians, who are 64 percent of the population, and ethnic Albanians, who make up 25 percent, is no stranger to ethnic strife. In 2001, the country’s government suppressed an ethnic Albanian insurgency, while the initial clashes prompted by these killings in 2012 earned the country a rebuke from the European Union.

The killings and subsequent prosecutions threaten to once again erode the unsteady peace between the two communities. While ethnic Macedonians blamed the murders on the wider Albanian community, thousands of ethnic Albanians participated in protests a few days after the verdict in the capital of Skopje. The demonstrations, organized by the families of the convicted men, called for the resignation of prosecutors and accused politicians and the courts of corruption. 

The demonstrations turned violent after protestors confronted the police, demanding access to the streets leading to the court building. Marchers carried Albanian flags and chanted nationalist slogans about “Greater Albania.”

Though the new evidence was insufficient to reverse the verdict, the defendants, who all pleaded not guilty at the retrial, stated that they will seek an appeal with the higher courts. Presiding Judge Ognen Stavrev, however, considered the sentences to be sufficient and stated, “This was not a regular criminal act, this was a monstrous sadistic killing, taking lives of children who had just stepped into maturity.”