MACEDONIA: Macedonia files terrorism charges against five after arresting 20 people, among them Islamists, in connection with the murder of five men shot dead at a lake near Skopje

Record ID: 860200

  • Title: MACEDONIA: Macedonia files terrorism charges against five after arresting 20 people, among them Islamists, in connection with the murder of five men shot dead at a lake near Skopje
  • Date: 3rd May 2012
  • Summary: SKOPJE , MACEDONIA (MAY 2, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF INTERIOR MINISTRY BUILDING MACEDONIAN FLAG NEWS CONFERENCE OF MACEDONIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, GORDANA JANKULOVSKA, IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Macedonian) MACEDONIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, GORDANA JANKULOVSKA, SAYING: "On the basis of the investigation and the evidence secured, the ministry of interior and organised crime unit and prosecutor's office in Skopje filed criminal charges against five people." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Macedonian) MACEDONIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, GORDANA JANKULOVSKA, SAYING: "These men are members of a criminal group suspected of committing various criminal acts, including terrorism, assisting in the perpetration of a criminal act, illegal possession and trade in weapons, and we believe this group is connected with the monstrous murder of five at a lake near Skopje,"
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
  • City:
  • Country: Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
  • Topics:
  • Reuters ID: LVA3L5FEQ9UZX4A5HIZEE7F6HNLE
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Macedonia filed charges of terrorism on Wednesday (May 2) against five people after arresting 20 the day before in connection with the murder of five Macedonians near Skopje in mid-April.
    Two of the five accused were still at large.
    The killing of the Macedonian men, shot at close range by more than one gunman, followed a bout of inter-communal violence in the Balkan country and raised concerns of wider unrest as speculation focused on the ethnic Albanian minority.
    "On the basis of the investigation and the evidence secured, the ministry of interior and organised crime unit and prosecutor's office in Skopje filed criminal charges against five people," Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said.
    "These men are members of a criminal group suspected of committing various criminal acts, including terrorism, assisting in the perpetration of a criminal act, illegal possession and trade in weapons, and we believe this group is connected with the monstrous murder of five at a lake near Skopje," Jankulovska added.
    There has been no claim of responsibility for the April killings.
    On Tuesday (May 1) Macedonia police said that among the 20 people they arrested at various locations on that day there were radical Islamists who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
    On Tuesday Jankulovska said most of those arrested were Macedonian citizens but declined to specify their ethnicity or name them.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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