Let them rest in peace

Goran Adamovski

When during the celebration of the May Day celebrations in 2012, Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska said that after a three-week investigation, the perpetrators of the bloody murders of Smilkovo Lake were arrested, no one expected that six years later the case would still be unsolved. The initial suspicions about the participation of members and sympathizers of the terrorist “Islamic State” in the monstrous event on Good Thursday, opposite of the greatest Christian holiday Easter, meanwhile, turned into sincere disbelief in the rule of law, the system, society, oppressive political games and interests. The parents of the killed boys are right when they ask whether justice will wait for another decade or two. If they even wait for it, because their souls have long been darkened, their hearts no longer laugh, they breathe just to survive, in hope that someday they will know why and who killed their children.

It’s hard for them, but also for the entire public, which follows the process with great interest, as much it is possible, with so much evidence that the case is so successfully neglected. If there really are transcripts of conversations between defendants and high political power, isn’t it logical for them to be called to testify and say what they discussed, what they planned, what they thought, what their idea was, what their goal was, what they wanted to do, and what they wanted to hide? Well, they don’t even have to say, it probably can be heard on the telephone calls…

Unfortunately, for those poor children and their families, they have become part of the political bargaining or tactics in the country. The very crime, arrests, initial verdicts, waving the “bombs”, annulment of sentences, the retrial of the trials … The escape of two of the three defendants for shooting at the children, their arrest in Kosovo and refusal to extradite them (it is unclear whether Macedonia is really looking for them), protests and pressures. There is always someone that is connected to someone, other is protecting someone else, or is framing them. And those poor people appear at every hearing, and re-live those hardest moments in person all over again, while the truth is laughing in their faces.

The wiretapped conversations about the “Monster” case have enraged the public for three years. We all were expecting to see the background of the bloody events at the small lake at the exit of Skopje. It was tactful, probably deliberately due to fear of heating up the atmosphere. Once the initial goal has been achieved – a change of government, there is no longer any interest in heating up the situation. On the contrary, now the authorities are in a position to quit and delay. At least as long as they share power with those whose names are mentioned in the talks, the names which the parents of the children boldly revealed to the public. But they have nothing to lose. They lost their loved ones 72 months ago.

Macedonia received a clear recommendation yesterday on the start of membership negotiations with the European Union. Judiciary is one of the key segments for the recovery of society. Independent and effective judiciary. The state must not allow, due to small party and political interests, to create a feeling of insecurity for the citizens. There have been, and will be, cases that have not been cleared for years and decades, starting with the assassination of President Kiro Gligorov and the bankruptcy of banks. There are such cases all over the world, although many will say that there is no perfect crime.

But this is not the case, this is confirmed by the lawyers. There is evidence, but there is no will. Let’s first hear the wiretapped conversations or transcripts. Do not deceive the public by saying that they are state secrets. If you consciously manipulate in order to avoid tensions with a national or ethnic preference, then you should have thought of it before you begin to misuse the case for political purposes. After all, anyone who ordered and committed a crime must not be hiding under the cloak of peace in society. All these monsters have a name and surname and cannot be generalized to entire communities.

Let the children rest in peace, and their mothers and fathers mourn in silence. That is the least they deserve, since you already offered them as sacrifices for your own political interests.