SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
At Wednesday’s hearing in the trial over the 2023 kidnapping and murder of Vanja Gjorcevska and Pance Zezovski, one of the defendants, Vlatko Kesisev, changed his testimony, telling, in a letter, the Criminal Court that during the two murders, the principal defendant, Ljupco Palevski (aka Palco), had been sleeping at the HQ of the party he’d then headed, Right.
He also said that he had been petrified when he’d gone with the police to the place where Gjorcevska had been buried, but he’d been afraid to say that he’d been at the two scenes only with other two defendants, Bore Videvski and Velibor Manev.
“On 22 and 27 November, Palco wasn’t with us. He was sleeping at the HQ, on a floor in his room. I was wrong to have listened to Velibor and say the non-truth that Palco had been with us. That is not true. Bore, Veljo [Velibor], and I went to the scene in both Veles and Skopje, events for which I am responsible,” Kesisev’s letter reads.
Though the defendant claims that the idea to set Palevski up came from Velibor, the letter doesn’t say which person pulled the trigger.
“After Palco had gone on the road, Veljo [Velibor] came to the HQ, in big panic, and by pressuring me, forced me into us saying, in the event if the police coming, that Palco had organised things and done the shooting, whereas we had been only of use. He was trying to convince me that if didn’t say that, they would crush us,” it is added in the letter.
Kesisev’s lawyer said he didn’t know that his client would change his testimony.
According to the defendant’s initial claims, made through the prison, Palevski shot Gjorcevska and Zezovski. The hearing saw Right members and friends of Palevski testify.
Stefan Dimkovski, the man who drove the principal defendant from Belgrade to Turkiye, said Palevski had been told by phone that a vehicle being used by the party was being linked to a missing girl case. Dimkovski stated that Palevski was pale while he had been saying that and that they were trying to set him up.
According to the witness, Palevski went to Turkiye to get medical treatment, but since he had no money to go to a hotel, he rented a house for what was supposed to be a three-month period. Lambe Vuckov, a former Interior Ministry employee, testified, too, saying Palevski loved guns and had several, manufactured by prominent companies.
The witness stated that they had been business partners in the completion of the construction of the Tiffany building, but Palevski hadn’t repaid the 15,000 euros, money he still owed today.
Witness Erol Osmani said that though he had tried to contact Palevski on 27 November, the date when Vanja had gone missing, he got a call back late in the evening. Palevski said he had a cold, but came to fix a central heating problem in Osmani’s home the following day, according to the witness.
The defence said that the witnesses’ testimonies confirmed the Prosecutor’s Office had no case. The trial will continue on Monday.
