The Ministry of the Interior has issued an international warrant for the 41-year-old lawyer Aleksandar Risteski from Skopje, who is suspected of deliberately trying to set fire to the premises of the Bar Association on November 25, setting fire to the stairs in the building where the Chamber is located.

Risteski recently had his lawyer's license revoked for three years after the Center for Social Affairs in St. Nikole reported him for assaulting and threatening officers of the Center in connection with a case he was handling.

The Chamber says that the officials were called as witnesses and their statements were documented, after which the disciplinary court of the Chamber, which is an independent body, made a decision to revoke Risteski's license.

From the Chamber ofTelma"they say that even though he had the right, Risteski did not file an appeal against the decision, and such decisions were made by the Chamber body before, for other members.

The prosecutor's office opened an investigation yesterday, and the damage caused by the fire is estimated at around 150 thousand euros. Probably angry because of the revoked license, Risteski came to the building where the premises of the Bar Association are located in the early morning of November 25, disguised as a "phantom", after which he broke the front door with an ax. He then arranged kerosene lighters on the stairs, placed several gas cylinders on top of them and lit them on fire using the gas lighter.

Thirty minutes after the fire, Risteski fled the country through the Blace border crossing towards Kosovo. He is accused of serious crimes against public security, for which a multi-year prison sentence is foreseen.