Report from the court trial against Nikola Konstantinidis, held on 14 May 1998 in the First Instance Court in Resen

On 14 May 1998 in the First Instance Court in Resen was held another session from the trial against Nikola Konstantinidis who was known in the previous court proceedings as Nikola Mladenovski, born in 1972, and based on the charges filed for light body injury by Vlade Conevski. The plaintiff Conevski was represented by the attorney-at-law Risto Aleksovski, while the defendant by the attorney-at-law from Bitola, Gjorgi Pili. The court session, on request of the defendant Nikola Konstantinidis, was held with the assistance of a court interpreter from Macedonian in Greek, and vice-versa. The court interpreter was Tanas Sterjov from Bitola. At the beginning, the judge Biljana, in accordance with the court procedure, suggested that the two parties involved make an effort for a reconciliation. The plaintiff accepted reconciliation under the condition that he be paid damages amounting to DM 5 000 in denar counter-value. At that, the defendant Konstantinidis demanded that the court trial be continued. In accordance with the legally stipulated procedure, the attorney-at-law for the plaintiff orally presented the charges, formulating them as "physical assault by Nikola Konstantinidis on Vlade Conevski, whereby Conevski got a light physical injury in the area of the groin." The attorney-at-law for Konstantinidis, Gjorgi Pili afterwards concluded that now these charges are different from the ones previously submitted by Vlade Conevski, in written form to the Court. Namely, in the previously submitted charges to the Court in written form, Konstantinidis is sued for "a mutual quarrel in which Conevski got a light physical injury by Konstantinidis." Considering that the present oral formulation represents an essential change of the initial charges which charge Konstantinidis only for a physical assault, Pili demanded from the judge that: 1) the present charges be delivered to him in written form, and 2) to be given time to prepare the defense in the sense of the new formulation of the charges.·

The judge Biljana accepted the proposal of the defendant whereby the trial was again postponed and was rescheduled for 23 June 1998. The judge warned the involved parties that court summons would not be sent to them. Hence, it is considered as obligatory for the involved parties on 23 June 1998 to appear at the court trial which will commence at 9 o'clock in the morning, in the First Instance Court in Resen. The defendant Nikola Konstantinidis demanded that the newly formulated charges be delivered to him in his mother tongue. At that, the attorney-at-law for the plaintiff said that the charges will be written and delivered to the Court in accordance with the Law on Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Macedonia. Thereby, the court session ended. As a conclusion, one should say that the court procedure treatment was duly respected both by the presiding judge and by the involved parties.

During the court session, one of the Greek observers tried twice to intervene which was stopped by the judge Biljana with the warning that persons whose status is that of being merely present in the courtroom, do not have the right to intervene in the court proceedings.

During the court session, as observers, besides Meto Jovanovski as the representative of the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights who also represented the Greek Helsinki Monitor for Human Rights, were present several Greek citizens from Seres and Athens, among which were three Members of the Greek Parliament and a dozen of journalists with their cameras and microphones, mainly from the local media. The journalists were again not allowed to make either audio or visual records, because in accordance with the Law, for this a permission must be obtained from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia. During the last court session, a small incident broke out when one of the Greek citizens (a Member of the Greek Parliament) tried secretly to smuggle into the courtroom a small tape recorder. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia will send its observer also on the next court session, scheduled for 23 June 1998.

In Resen, on 14 May 1998.

OBSERVER,