20 Police Injured in Macedonia Protest Unrest

Police said they were investigating on Saturday after 20 officers and several protesterssustained injuries in the previous day’s protests, which spokesperson Ivo Kotevski described as “extremely violent”.

“The police are examining the footage from the unrest. Criminal charges will be filed against all who will be identified. We still don’t know who the organizer of the protest is because the event was not reported [to the authorities],” Kotevski told a press conference late on Friday.

Running battles broke out in the city streetson Friday after ethnic Albanian protesters rallied to show their anger at the life sentences handed down to six alleged Muslim radicals for the killing of five ethnic Macedonians at Orthodox Easter in 2012, in a case that raised ethnic tensions in the country.

Although Skopje was calm again on Saturday morning, Kotevski said that police remainedon standby atvariouscritical points in the capital.

He said that officers would “follow the social networks through which the mobilization for the violent protest happened”.

Friday’s protest, which started after the midday prayers in mosques in the Albanian-dominated Skopje municipality of Cair,quickly turned violent as the crowd, mainly made up of young men, charged towards the Skopje Criminal Court, throwing stones and bricks at the building and the police.

The police responded with water cannon, stun grenades and tear gas, preventing the crowd from advancing towards the government building and forcing the protesters back to Cair.

The several-hours-long clash resulted in caused damage to various buildings and cars as well as a series of injuries to police and protesters.

According to unofficial information...