In a first such instance since the fall of Communism, a member of Parliament was sentenced for comments he made in Parliament. VMRO-DPMNE representative Brane Petrusevski was sentenced by the Kumanovo court in a slander trial initiated by SDSM member of Parliament Martin Kostovski.

The Constitution and the law give immunity to members of Parliament for comments made in Parliament, precisely in order to prevent this type of pressure on the opposition. But SDS and DUI treat the laws as disposable paper. I will not be intimidated by this verdict and I will continue to speak about their crimes to their faces, Petrusevski said.

With the verdict, Petrusevski is ordered to pay 2,700 EUR to Kostovski for non-material damages. Kostovski sued after Petruevski said that he attacked two citizens of Kumanovo while intoxicated, that he is collecting bribes to hire people in the municipality of Kumanovo and had his wife hired in the Foreign Ministry.