The trial against the two demonstrators suspected for taking part in the demolition of the presidential people's office and the Justice Ministry building during the April 13 protests was cancelled for the second time on Wednesday, Telegraf.mk reads.
The reason for the postponement is the fact that the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Skopje has still not carried out an exact estimate of the tangible damage caused by the two protesters.
The total tangible damage caused at the President Gjorge Ivanov's office and the Justice Ministry premises has been deemed to stand at MKD 880,000. However, several people are suspected of participating in the violent incidents and they have all been charged for causing the total damage covered by the aforementioned amount.
On Tuesday, the judge in charge of the case asked for the postponement of the trial against 30-year-old Filip Nakovski and Nikola Arizanov of the same age, in order to provide more time for the prosecutor's office to determine the exact damage caused by each defendant separately. At the Wednesday hearing, the prosecutor said the office is still working on drafting the damage compensation claim for Nakovski and Arizanov given the short time period. The main hearing was rescheduled for this Friday.
Nakovski and Arizanov were arrested together with 11 more demonstrators following the April 13 protests. They were charged for 'taking part in a crowd that would commit a crime' and were sentenced to an 8-day house detention, which was extended for additional 30 days. The other apprehended individuals got misdemeanor charges.
The trial against Nakovski and Arizanov was expected to kick off on Tuesday but the hearing was postponed but the hearing was postponed because the Basic Prosecutor's Office for the Skopje area has filed another case last Thursday involving other people suspected of taking part in the same incident and has asked for the merger of the proceedings. It was not said how many people were charged for the same crime in the Thursday-filed case. The prosecutor's office has also submitted a damage compensation request, under which the tangible damage caused by the violent actions during the protests were estimated to stand at MKD 880,000.
The judge said she will not accept the merger motion because she believed that the damage caused by each defendant needs to be determined precisely.
Vladimir Danailov, the attorney of the two demonstrators who came to court on Wednesday, believes the MKD 880,000 were rather loosely calculated.
He stated his clients expressed readiness to plead guilty, but they have not done so yet because they would have to acknowledge the estimated tangible damage as well.
The protests held against President Ivanov's general abolition decision, referring to all politicians and their associations, have been taking place for the past three weeks. Five people in total, who took part in the demonstrations, have been sentenced to house detention.