June 4 marked three years since the arson attack against the Ivan Mihaylov Cultural Centre in Bitola, North Macedonia. It sparked a strong public reaction and raised the issue of human rights and interethnic relations in North Macedonia.

On this occasion, Lyupcho Georgievski, Chairman of the Ivan Mihaylov Cultural Club, banned by North Macedonia’s authorities, issued a statement on social media claiming the arson was a deliberate attack against the Bulgarian community. ''Instead of the crime being investigated, the victims have been turned into defendants. Instead of bringing the perpetrators to justice, the state targeted us with its repressive machinery. A fabricated political case was brought against me. After three years of court proceedings, the trial has ended, but the court stubbornly remains silent. The verdict is deliberately postponed to prolong the execution'', Lyupcho Georgievski wrote. ''In a European Macedonia, Bulgarians are persecuted for their identity. The doors to Europe do not open through club arsons, human rights violations and political trials'', reads Georgievski’s statement, quoted by tribuna.mk. 

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Published and translated by Kostadin Atanasov

Photo: BGNES-archive