1 Ljupcho Palevski Palcho, accused of the murders of 14-year-old Vanja Gjorchevska from Skopje and 74-year-old Panche Zhezhovski from Veles, is not a rookie in the game. He has an enviable criminal career – starting from the first illegal building in Skopje’s Debar Maalo over twenty years ago, all the way to the double murder. The police have so far filed over a dozen misdemeanour and criminal charges against him, including tax evasion, illegal wiretapping and carrying weapons, but there hasn’t been a verdict.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski, says that the murders of Vanja and Panche are isolated incidents. Maybe they are. Although, personally, I don’t believe Vanja’s family is the only one harassed by this criminal gang.

However, impunity isn’t limited to Palcho’s case alone.

Look around you. You’ll spot a Palcho in no time. How many Palchos kill you every day? We’re not talking about a monstrous liquidation like the one of Vanja and Panche, where the main suspect is the famous constructor, businessman, media boss, politician, party leader, political analyst, social media influencer, and a member of the “city kid – urban figure” caste, Ljupcho Palevski – Palcho. However, it’s still a case of – murder. How many families have been destroyed because of the racketeering, fraud, blackmail, threats and bullying carried out by “respectable” Palchos who have escaped punishment from the courts?

2 Now, everyone’s deleting photos and posts on social media to conceal evidence of how close they are to the accused child killer. Even journalistic articles demanding “justice for Palcho” have vanished from the archives. It seems our institutions know how to do the job they’re paid for only when there’s no political or business pressure to cover up a case. When there’s no pressure to protect a child killer, we saw that even the police can be efficient and solve the case quickly, almost like in the movies.

However, in the chain that connects justice and law, there’s always a missing link. There will always be someone to shelve a case and forget about it. If inspectors do their job, the case will be stopped at the ministry. If the ministry does its job, the case will be stopped by the minister’s party. If it manages to pass through the party, it will stop at the coalition partner and the Government. If the police do their job, the case will get stuck at the prosecutor’s office. If it passes through the prosecutor’s office, it will get stuck at the Basic Court. If it passes through the Basic Court, if will get stuck at the Court of Appeals. If it passes through the Court of Appeals, it will get stuck at the Supreme Court. The wheel of injustice and impunity turned in such a way that a child was killed.

Impunity is becoming endemic. Starting from parking illegally, all the way to racketeering. From slapping a political opponent two or three times, all the way to kidnapping a child. From “let the fool go, we know him, he’s one of us,” all the way to killing a child.

And if we find it that difficult to understand the dangers of the impunity that kills our society every day, we should constantly be reminded of the image of the 14-year-old girl who was dumped into a bag, thrown into a boot, and shot. Why did they kill the child? Because they could. Because they felt powerful. Because people feared them. Because they were encouraged by the likes on social media. Because they felt protected. Because they weren’t punished and were untouchable.

Impunity isn’t an abstract concept or an empty phrase. Impunity is the murder of a child. Impunity in Macedonia now has a face and a name. Its name is Vanja. If we continue to live with that realisation without it bothering us, then we’re beyond saving.

3 After the initial frenzy of deleting photos and posts with Palcho settled down, now those who used to hang out with him have started boasting with evidence. This is what should be done, that is what should be done, if only they had done this, if only they had done that…

The leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, even boasted that he knew some things about the investigation but didn’t want to share them. He’d rather share them later.

Nothing unusual when it comes to Mickoski, he keeps on doing the same old same old. He did the same before the referendum when our name was about to change. He claimed he was going to change the Prespa Agreement. How? He said he would let us know later. He’s now doing the same with the inclusion of Bulgarians in our Constitution. He says he’s going to change the French Proposal. How? He’ll let us know later. He says he’ll start the EU accession talks. How? He’ll let us know later.

If he hasn’t informed the Prosecutor’s Office about what he has found out regarding Vanja’s murder, then it’s a case of the most miserable political scavenging. Concealing evidence is a crime. In a country where justice is meant for everyone, the leader of a political party shouldn’t be exempt from it.

And his accountability for trivialising evil for political gain – it’s not even up for debate.

Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski