The court in Skopje sentenced Ljubco Palevski, Velibor Manev, Bore Videvski and Vlatko Keshishev to life imprisonment for the murder of a 14-year-old girl from Skopje Vanya Gjorchevska and 74-year-old Panche Zhezhovski in November 2023, dariknews.bg reported, citing BGNES.
Alexander Gjorchevski (Vanya's father), who was accused of complicity, was acquitted.
The minor Vanya Gjorchevska, reported missing on November 27, 2023, was found dead near Skopje on December 3. The elderly man Panche Zhezhovski, originally from Veles, was found dead near the city. Ljubco Palevski, who fled to Serbia and then through Bulgaria, is accused of both murders. Ultimately, the suspect fled to Turkey, where he was detained on December 6. He is known to the public as a former construction contractor and former owner of a local weekly. From chairman of the city organization of the Social Democratic Union (SDSM), Palevski subsequently positioned himself as a radical pro-Russian nationalist and created the political movement “Third”. He organized protests in front of the Bulgarian embassy in North Macedonia (after the French proposal was accepted in 2022) and for years spread anti-Bulgarian propaganda in the Macedonian media.
„In a cruel and deliberate manner, they took the life of Vanya Gjorchevska in a way that exposed her to severe psychological suffering of great intensity, while she was tied up and unable to resist, and was told that she would be killed. The accused Ljubcho Palevski, using a firearm, a NN brand pistol, caliber 9 mm, fired a bullet into the victim's head through a pillow he found nearby. The prosecutor did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant Aleksandar Gjorchevski committed the crime he is accused of,“ said the judge in the case, Ivica Stefanovski.
“The life sentences imposed on the defendants Velibor Manev, Bore Videvski, Vlatko Keshishev and Ljubcho Palevski are proof that no perpetrator can remain undetected when committing such heinous crimes,“ said prosecutor Žaklina Josifovska Krustevska.
According to the lawyers of Palevski, Videvski and Keshishev, there is not enough evidence for the crimes and they believe that the court did not take their evidence into account. They have announced appeals.