31 years since the assassination attempt on Kiro Gligorov: the scene was cleaned, the Germans refused to investigate, Gocevski testifies

Today marks 31 years since the failed assassination attempt on the first president of independent Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov: on 3 October 1995, at 9:50 in the morning, a car bomb — a Citroën Ami 8 with Kumanovo plates, loaded with 20 kg of explosives and detonated by remote control — exploded on “Macedonia” Street in Skopje, near the Bristol Hotel, as Gligorov’s official car was heading towards the Assembly, as TRN writes.

Gligorov survived with serious injuries to the head and an eye — he was operated on at the City Hospital and treated at the Clinical Centre. His driver Aleksandar Spirovski was killed on the spot; bodyguard Ilčo Teovski was seriously wounded; passer-by Hristo Ristovski died of his wounds; pensioner Risto Hadžimanov was wounded, 4NEWS reports.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs launched operation “Kurir”: around 19,000 vehicles and more than 30,000 people were checked, while expert teams from the American FBI, the German criminal police and British experts came to Skopje. No criminal charge ever reached a court; the case formally remains open against an unknown perpetrator — as TRN writes.

4NEWS today published the testimony of Gocevski, the first defence minister of independent Macedonia: “The scene was cleaned, the Germans refused to investigate.” According to him, the assassination attempt was not simply an attack on a political figure, but a direct attempt to stop and destroy the project of the sovereign Macedonian state.

Today also sees the promotion of the book “Atentat” (“The Skopje Assassination”) by Dr. Zoran Dorevski, which reopens questions about the motive and the organisers of one of the most complex security cases in independent Macedonia — as Makfax reports.