Butel Mayor Velimir Smilevski confirmed that he was very close to the mobster Kamer Idrizi, who was machine-gunned to death with his nephew yesterday in Skopje. Idrizi was close to the ruling SDSM party and was often pictured with Smilevski, people from the Mayor’s entourage, in some instances brandishing a gun, and also with President Pendarovski and Zaev’s chief of staff Muhamed Zekiri.

Smilevski tried to paint a positive picture of the mobster, insisting that he “never discussed business with him”.

He was my neighbor, two years younger, and I’m the same age with his brother. We were friends since our youngest age. We never did any business together. He was always good in my book, Smilevski said.

Idrizi was reportedly well established in the local Albanian mafia. The Interior Ministry still hasn’t clarified the possible reasons for his murder. What’s known is that the attackers drove up on the car where Idrizi and his nephew were sitting and opened fire from automatic rifles on them. Both were rushed to hospital and dozens of Idrizi’s friends mobbed the Emergency Clinic and threatened doctors demanding that they save him, but Idrizi was dead on arrival.