Ethnic Albanians protested in North Macedonia’s capital against the Tuesday sentencing of 5 Albanians for the killing of 5 Macedonians in 2012, in the so-called “Monster” case.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Skopje on Friday calling for “Justice for Freedom”.
Police arrested some of the protesters, when they threw heavy objects towards police officers blocking the road leading to the prosecution building.
Protesters believe that those sentenced for the killings are not guilty, and that secret services were behind the killings, aiming to create inter-ethnic tension in the country between Albanians and Macedonians.
They demanded the publication of wiretaps believed to contain conversations that shed light on such suspicions.
Protesters called for an independent international investigation of the case.
A Macedonian court convicted five ethnic Albanians on Tuesday, three of which to life in prison, for murdering five ethnic Macedonians in April 2012, near Smilkova lake in Skopje’s countryside.
In 2015, the then opposition Social Democrats led by now-PM Zoran Zaev released tapped phone conversations of top officials leading to speculation of a political setup.
Read more: Macedonian Court Sentences 5 People for 5 Killings in 2012
