Three Skopje residents have been charged with a crime after an investigation found them to be organizing to avenge their brothers who were charged and convicted of being a terrorist organization last year.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption (PPO OCC), acting on a criminal complaint filed by the Sector for Combating Terrorism, Violent Extremism and Radicalism within the Department for Suppression of Organized and Serious Crime, issued an order to conduct an investigative procedure against three people from Skopje, aged 25, 29 and 33.
As the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) informs, there is a reasonable suspicion that the suspects committed the crime of “criminal association” and the crime of “unauthorized production, possession, brokerage and trade in weapons or explosives”.
As part of the pre-investigation procedure, it has been determined that there is a suspicion that the individuals are organizing to avenge their brothers who were accused and convicted of the crime of “terrorist organization” last year.
According to the evidence collected so far, the suspects acted in an organized and coordinated manner, as a group with a common ideological commitment, based on radical Islamist narratives. There are suspicions that activities were undertaken to collect funds from the country and abroad and that they were used for propaganda and activities of the Islamic State, as well as for the procurement of weapons.
On Friday, by order of the Skopje Criminal Court, and under the leadership of the public prosecutor, searches of homes and other premises at several locations in Skopje were carried out by the Public Prosecutor’s Office OCC.
During the searches, a double-barreled automatic rifle with 44 bullets, two triple-barreled pistols with 14 bullets, one hunting rifle, one air rifle, one hand-held smoke bomb, ammunition of various types and calibers, and other evidence were found and confiscated.
