Bloody Night for the Resistance in Struga

DNEVNIK

24 July 2004

Forty injured and wounded, demolished office building, some 200 detained persons, shock grenades, rubber bullets and mutual accusations of treason and incitement to violence between the Government and the opposition is the outcome of the riots in Struga on Thursday evening.

Special police units, around 2 a.m., used force and succeeded in extracting the Minister of Defense Vlado Buckovski from the offices of the Municipal Committee of SDSM, which was besieged by several thousand citizens of Struga for more than seven hours. The riot police used shock-grenades, teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds of some 6,000 people. According to the information released by Struca Medical Centre and Hospital, 17 persons asked for medical attention, seven of which were members of the Police. The Ministry of the Interior said that 40 persons were injured or wounded in the riots, 24 of them policemen, 15 protesters and one member of the EU Police Mission �Proxima�. Seven automobiles were damaged and destroyed in the riots.

The tensions in Struga first started at 19:45 hours, when the citizens of Struga learned that Minister Buckovski, SDSM Secretary General Nikola Kurkciev and Sasko Nasev came to Struga to consult with the local SDSM leaders.

About 100 citizens arrived at the Struga seat of SDSM. About that number of riot-police took cordoned off the offices. The crowds quickly rose to several thousand, who chanted slogans against the Government and started throwing stones and Molotov Cocktails at the building.

Yesterday was peaceful in Struga, with noticeable police presence at all the key points and objects in the city.