Trial Starts in Macedonian Neskovski Case

Igor Spasov pleaded not guilty

Igor Spasov, 33, is the only one accused in a case that sparked public outrage and anti-police youth protests in the country throughout June and July.

“I'd never seen the kid before. I had no motive whatsoever to kill him,” Spasov said when starting his testimony before the court, pleading not guilty to murder.

Martin Neskovski, 22, died shortly after midnight on June 6. He had been attending the celebrations held to mark the victory of Nikola Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party in the general election the previous day.

Eywitnesses claimed that a policeman in uniform started beating him for no apparent reason.

In his first appearance before the cameras in court, Spasov said that he was on duty that night, tasked with securing government ministers who went out onto Skopje's central square to celebrate the election win.

He said he started chasing Neskoski after the boy tried to climb onto the stage.

The defendant claimed that Neskovski tripped on a wire and fell on the pavement after which Spasov hit him several times, thinking he was pretending to be unconcious.

“If I'd known what the outcome would be I would personally have carried the boy to the hospital,” Spasov said.

Spasov at the time was serving in the police’s special Tigers unit but was dismissed soon after his arrest. He has been in detention for four months.

As news of Neskovski’s death spread through the media in June, young people used the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter to organize rallies against what they said was unchecked police brutality.

For nearly two days police denied involvement in the incident. But on June 8 they changed their story, confirming the man’s death and identity and saying they now had the suspect, Spasov, in custody.

The only eyewitness to appear at Wednesday's four-hour trial, Radica Radevska, testified that she saw the victim being brutally beaten.

But she said she could not identify Spasov as the perpetrator. According to her the assailant was much more corpulent.

Spasov’s appearance in court puzzled many as he looked quite different from the way he appeared on the day of his arrest, four months ago.

The media pictures showed a corpulent man in a fit physical shape and with shaved hair.
In court, Spasov appeared far from fit, with longer hair.
 
During the trial a small group of people protested before the court, led by Neskoski’s brother, Aleksandar.

They demanded justice not only for the alleged killer but for his police colleagues who were present at the event and who, according to them, did nothing to help.

Aleksandar Neskovksi has asked for video camera footage from the square to be shown in order to determine the truth.

The trial continues on Monday.