Thousands of citizens gathered in front of the Government building in downtown Skopje to demand a fair trial for the political prisoners of the Zaev regime. This is the second such protest, organized by diaspora groups and supported by the VMRO-DPMNE party in a month.

The focus of the protest is the demand for justice for 16 protesters and Interior Ministry officials who were sentenced in the April 27th trial. The Zaev regime used the trial to imprison former Interior Minister Mitko Cavkov, who investigated Zaev’s corruption, and to blackmail three VMRO members of Parliament, forcing them to vote for the imposed name change. The members of Parliament received amnesties after they cast their votes, but the ordinary protesters who entered the Parliament to stop Zaev’s powergrab were sentenced to over a decade in prison each.

The protesters call for a retrial, in which the defendants will be charged with realistic crimes, such as participating in an unruly protest, but not the charge of terrorism. Another demand is that the Parliament is dissolved and new elections called. They were joined by the families of the political prisoners.