Thousands demand retrial of jailed officials in North Macedonia

Skopje protesters demand retrials and freedom for more than a dozen former conservative government officials.

Thousands of opposition supporters have protested in North Macedonia’s capital of Skopje demanding retrials and freedom for more than a dozen former conservative government officials convicted for their roles in a mob invasion of parliament in 2017. Sunday’s protest was organised by several civic associations and the families of those convicted and supported by the main conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party. The protesters, many of them not wearing masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, sang patriotic songs and demanded that the country’s Supreme Court annul the trial, claiming it was politically fabricated.