A court in Ohrid has acquitted two men accused of severely beating Hristiyan Pendikov, secretary of a Bulgarian cultural club in the city, ruling that neither their responsibility for the assault nor an ethnic motive had been proven.
The decision by the Basic Court in Ohrid comes more than three years after the attack and follows a ruling by the Court of Appeal in Bitola that sent the case back to the first-instance court.
The hearing lasted around two and a half hours, with no additional evidence presented. The court concluded that the charges against the two defendants, Borche Angelov and Iliya Spaseski, had not been substantiated and that an ethnic motive could not be established.
Pendikov’s legal team strongly criticized the reversal, noting that the same judge had previously sentenced both defendants to eight months in prison for inflicting grievous bodily harm.
“For us, it is indisputable that the act was committed for ethnic reasons. Throughout the entire trial, no other facts or evidence emerged to suggest any other motive,” lawyer Stefan Kamishevski said.
Kamishevski explained that Pendikov’s lawyers cannot appeal the acquittal themselves, leaving the decision to challenge it with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is expected to appeal to a higher court.
Pendikov expressed outrage after hearing the verdict.
“I am ashamed of this verdict. To hand down an acquittal in the face of all the video evidence presented is shameful and disgraceful. With this ruling, the court is giving the green light for anyone who identifies as Bulgarian in [North] Macedonia to be beaten with impunity – without anyone facing any consequences,” he said.
Pendikov added that the attack on January 19, 2023, had been followed by three years of daily harassment, insults and slander targeting him and his family. He argued that countries that fail to uphold human dignity and the rule of law have no place in the European Union.
Members of the Bulgarian Parliament attended the hearing to show their support for Pendikov.