The Helsinki Committee issued a statement strongly denouncing the suspended prison sentence against Colored Revolution activists Zdravko Saveski and Vladimir Kunovski. In 2016 they took part in the torching of an office of President Ivanov, following Ivanov’s mass pardon of defendants charged by the now discredited Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva. Ivanov’s hope was that this will stop the process that led to the installation of an SDSM led Government that make numerous deep concessions to neighboring countries – the pardons failed amid pressure from diplomats and growing protests in Skopje.

Few Colored Revolution activists were charged and Saveski and Kunovski are the only to be sentenced in this violent protest, which saw the smashing of the office and a fire in a residential building. The Helsinki Committee, which supported the protests, blames the violence on the police and demands that the suspended sentences of six months in prison are struck.

The repressive police apparatus of the Government at the time exposed its ferocity and selective approach when handling the protesters. Six people were detained from the entire mob and put in house arrest, and their charges were fast-tracked. These were citizens who dared to stand up against the criminal pardons, and faced six years in court. The sentences are a message to the citizens that they should remain silent and passive in face of corruption, the Helsinki Committee says.