The Court of Appeal in Skopje has explained the reasons for overturning the decision that acquitted Aleksandar Gjorçevski, the father of Vanja Gjorçevska. According to the court, several important pieces of evidence and circumstances were not sufficiently analyzed at first instance.
One of the issues to be clarified in the retrial is the source of the information about when Vanja would leave home to go to school.
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The Court of Appeal found that the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje did not fully examine the evidence concerning Gjorçevski’s conduct before and after his daughter’s abduction. For this reason, the new proceedings must analyze in detail the testimony of Velibor Manevi, Vllatko Keshishevi and Bore Videvski, as well as the circumstances that led to the decision to carry out the abduction.
The court also called for attention to the developments of November 24 and 27, 2023, including the connection between the earlier failed abduction attempt and the day Vanja was abducted and killed.
At the previous trial, the defendants stated that Ljupço Palevski – Pallço had informed them that Vanja would go to school alone. They claimed that the information may have come from the girl’s father. These statements and the relevant evidence will be examined again, without taking Gjorçevski’s criminal responsibility for granted.
His lawyer, Vlladimir Tufegxhiq, has challenged the Court of Appeal’s decision. He says that, if the court had identified ambiguities, it could have changed the reasoning of the judgment without sending the case back for retrial.
Tufegxhiq maintains that the Court of Appeal established that there had been no direct communication or connection between Gjorçevski and the other defendants. According to the lawyer, the motive that the Prosecutor’s Office had previously linked to the property was also not proven.
He also questions how the father’s conduct during his daughter’s disappearance was assessed, stressing that the parents’ state of mind during that period must be taken into account.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal upheld the life sentences imposed on Ljupço Palevski – Pallço, Velibor Manevi, Bore Videvski and Vllatko Keshishevi. They were convicted of abducting and killing Vanja Gjorçevska and Pançe Zhezhovski.
Aleksandar Gjorçevski, who had previously been acquitted of charges of aiding in the abduction of his daughter, will stand trial again. The overturning of the acquittal does not mean that he has been found guilty, but that the evidence must be reassessed and a new decision issued.
