The Appeals Court in Skopje sentenced Ljupco Stojanovski to seven years and six months in prison, for his attempted murder of former Healthcare Minister Nikola Todorov.

Stojanovski tried to shoot Todorov as he was leaving the Healthcare Ministry in 2017, the day when his mandate expired. Todorov was able to dodge the attacker and the bullet missed. Stojanovski had an initial sentence thrown out by the court.

Stojanovski was the grand-father of Tamara Dimovska, who died in 2015, aged nine, as the result of a severe spinal deformity. The family was in the process of arranging a surgery abroad and had applied for funds from the Ministry, as various foreign experts were discussing whether a surgery is feasible.

Following her death, the opposition SDSM party insisted that the Ministry under Todorov was deliberately withholding funding for little Tamara. SDSM supporters protested on the streets, shouting “murderer” at Todorov and declaring him the “Death Minister”. These protests blended into the Colored Revolution and the overall propaganda campaign SDSM built over several emotionally charged issues, such as the 2011 murder of young Martin Neskovski.