The court agreed to summon member of Parliament Zekirija Ibrahimi as a witness in the April 2017 incident trial.

Ibrahimi sang the Albanian national anthem from the pulpit which greatly contributed to rile up the thousands of protesters outside of the building, who later stormed the Parliament. The protesters were objecting to the creation of an SDSM – DUI led majority in Parliament believing it will lead to an imposed name change and losing of the Macedonian nation state character of the country in favor of an Albanian – Macedonian federalism. Ibrahimi’s singing of the anthem contributed to confirm the fears and to increase the tensions.

Prosecutors and judges were using the trial to pressure political opponents of the Zaev regime, including three members of Parliament who voted for the name change in exchange for amnesty in the case.

During the hearings earlier this week, then Speaker Trajko Veljanoski testified how it was agreed to end the session for the day, but then SDSM and DUI staged an irregular vote for a new Speaker, which was the final straw, and led to the incident.