Zorica Gjorcevska, mother of the murdered 14 year old girl Vanja Gjorcevska, spoke with the Serbian “Republika” outlet. In the brief interview, her first since the tragedy that shook the country, Zorica Gjorcevska said that she still does not understand what caused the tragedy.

She confirmed that she was divorced with the girl’s father, Aleksandar, who is suspected of some level of involvement in the apparent plot to kidnap the girl for ransom.

I don’t know what he was doing and with whom. We remained in good relations, for the benefit of the children, and we didn’t argue over custody. He was allowed to see the children whenever he wanted. I had no interest in his life, my children were my whole life. I left him in peace so that he would leave me in peace, Zorica Gjorcevska said.

She added that she suffers from a chronic illness, and that her other daughter is also ill, but would not discuss the state of her child further.

Businessman and populist politician Ljupco Palevski – Palco is the main suspect in the murder, along with four activists from his fringe party. It’s believed that the group wanted to extort money that the mother recently received after the sale of an apartment, and were in some way coordinating this with the father, to learn more about the poor girl’s movements. Palevski is awaiting extradition in Turkey, where he fled after the murder, while the other four men are in detention.