Defense attorneys for the two killers charged in the brutal murder of young football fan Nikola Sazdovski – Sazdo in 2017 tried to overturn the psychiatrist testimony commissioned to determine the level of suffering which was inflicted on Sazdo in the days between the attack and his death in hospital.

The case increased ethnic tensions in Macedonia, as the killers, one of whom fled the country, are ethnic Albanians, and Sazdo was Macedonian. Ethnic hatred is believed to have been the main motivating factor in the attack on Sazdo (21), who was previously threatened by the Albanian football hooligans.

Besir Bela and Skender Demiri are standing trial for the murder, while the third killer Jeton Luza is sought after by Interpol. Their lawyers sought to dismiss the psychiatrist’s report questioning his credentials. The report is important in qualifying the murder as extremely brutal.

No psychiatrist in the world can determine the pain my son went through. If the defense thinks they can quantify the pain, let them try, it’s nebulous, the father, Toni Sazdovski, said after the trial.