The Skopje Appeals Court issued a statement defending the recent verdict against a motorist from Veles who killed an 11 year old girl. Magdalena Ivanova was killed on a pedestrian crossing while her mother was injured by the driver, who was drunk and fled the scene. The local court handed him a sentence of 18 years in prison, but the Skopje Appeals Court cut 10 years from the sentence.

The Skopje court now insists that it is still the most serious sentence handed for the charge in the past five years. The second longest such sentence was for seven years and two months in prison. The revision of the sentence caused outrage in Veles and across the country.