Skopje, 15 September 2023 (MIA) - The Supreme Court has dismissed as groundless the appeals of the defendants in the case dubbed "Monster" and upheld the ruling of the Skopje-based Appellate Court of 31 March 2022.

In September 2022, the Appellate Court dismissed the appeals of the defendants and upheld the first-instance rulings - life sentences handed down to Alil Demiri and brothers Agim and Afrim Ismailovic. The verdict for Haki Aziri, sentenced to nine years in prison, and for Fejzi Aziri, sentenced to 15 years in prison, was also upheld. The only defendant who was acquitted was Sami Ljuta.

On 12 April 2012, five men - Filip Slavkovski, Aleksandar Nakjevski, Cvetancho Ackovski, Kire Trpkovski and Borche Stevkovski - were killed near Smilkovo Lake in Skopje. The Monster case was tried twice after the Supreme Court ordered re-trial in 2017, with the case taken over by the now-defunct Special Prosecutor's Office.

Photo: MIA archive