Macedonian Police Action in Ethnic Riots Queried

After two days of violent ethnic protests in the Skopje suburb of Gjorce Petrov, folllowing the murder of a teen by a thief, the situation is now tense but calm.

Police patrolling the municipality said they detained several dozen protestors during the riots on Monday and Tuesday and filed criminal charges against five.

Police have charged the five with preventing officers from carrying out their duties. If found guilty, they face three months to three years in jail.

As traffic in the area returns to normal, the authorities say they are watching closely for any renewed protests.

Civil rights groups meanwhile accused the police of using excessive force to quell trouble, and of preventing the media from reporting on what was going on.

The riots started on Monday following the killing of Angel Petkovski, a recent high school graduate, by an ethnic Albanian who stole his bicycle.

After the victim and his father gave chase, Petkovski was stabbed to death on catching the thief. Police said the caught the suspect, named as Naser E, shortly afterwards.

After the name of the suspect was released - indicating that he was of ethnic Albanian origin - demonstrations erupted in Gjorce Petrov, which later turned violent.

The lawyer for the suspect told Albanian-language media on Wednesday that his client acted in self-defence after the victim and his father attacked him.

“He told me he was attacked by the victim and his father. He also told me that the knife belonged to the victim,” Rubin Dvojakov was cited as saying.

Since Monday the municipality has practically been under siege. Police on several occasions prevented angry groups of Macedonian protestors from crossing the Vardar River to...