Macedonia Albanians Urge New Street Rallies

Macedonia’s ethnic Albanians were urged to rally again in the capital Skopje on Monday after midday prayers in mosques, raising fears of more unrest after clashes between protesters and riot police over the past several days.

Protesters were also urged to take to the streets in other towns where Albanians make up a sizable proportion of the population, such as Tetovo, Gostivar, Struga, Debar and Kicevo.

The anonymous protest organisers, who spread their message via social networks, called on Albanians to demonstrate every day “until our boys are released”.

The protesters are angry 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.

Alleged Islamic extremists Alil Demiri, Afrim Ismailovic, Agim Ismailovic, Fejzi Aziri, Haki Aziri and Sami Ljuta were convicted of terrorism over the 2012 killings last Monday. One other defendant was acquitted.

On Friday, the protests quickly turned violent as several thousand people, mainly young men, charged towards the Skopje Criminal Court, throwing stones and bricks at the building and at riot police, who responded with tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades.

Detained Journalist Released
The head of the Journalists’ Association of Macedonia, ZNM, Naser Selmani welcomed the release on Sunday of detained reporter Besim , who the police arrested for allegedly being part of a vioent mob during Friday’s protest in Skopje.

However the prosecution has not yet decided wither it will press charges against Ibrahimi, who is working as an intern for the Albanian-language newspaper Lajm.

“The decision of the...