Macedonia Parliament Attack 'Pre-Planned': Ministry Report

An Interior Ministry report completed last week but not yet made public says a violent attack on parliament by VMRO DPMNE party supporters on April 27 was not spontaneous.

Unnamed sources who participated in the Interior Ministry commission that prepared the report told the 'Kod TV' investigative programme on Sunday on Telma TV that the document suggests that "police officers, commanders and office holders" were among those who allegedly took part in the planning of the violence in parliament on April 27.

According to the sources, the report notes that on the day of the violence, the police "failed to undertake enough activities" to curb the violence and "lacked an appropriate evaluation of the security risks" despite the fact that certain so-called 'patriotic associations' were publicly announcing the possibility of clashes.

The sources claimed that the report reveals a connection between the masked assailants who were seen in parliament and the security forces.

Ten MPs injured during rampage

The violence in parliament began just after 6pm local time on April 27 when a majority of 67 MPs in the 120-seat parliament elected the new parliamentary speaker, Talat Xhaferi - widely regarded as the next step towards the establishment of the new SDSM-led coalition government which was finally elected last week.

The VMRO-DPMNE, which had been trying to avoid losing power by preventing the election of a new speaker for months, complained that the move was unlawful.

Violent protesters, including people wearing black hoods who some suspect of being police officers, were allowed to rampage inside parliament for about two hours, virtually unopposed by the riot police, injuring some 100 people, including ten MPs...