Alexander Pandov, President of the Patriotic Institute "Goce Delchev", founded by VMRO-DPMNE, in front of the prison in Prilep addressed the audience at the protest for the convicts for the events in the Parliament on April 27, 2017.

Pandov read the "Declaration of Justice and Freedom for Political Convicts in Macedonia" adopted by the Union of Veterans of VMRO-DPMNE and the Patriotic Institute.

Starting from the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia for the sovereignty of the state and the sovereignty that arises from the citizens and belongs to the citizens, emphasizing the fundamental values ​​of the constitutional order of Macedonia as fundamental freedoms and rights of citizens, rule of law and equality of citizens, pointing out the constitutional preamble and the historical decisions with which the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia constituted the Republic of Macedonia as a state in which the rule of law was established and strengthened and human rights and civil liberties will be guaranteed, the VMRO-DPMNE Veterans Union and the VMRO Patriotic Institute "DPMNE" Goce Delchev "adopted a Declaration of Justice and Freedom for political prisoners in Macedonia," explained Pandov.

Pandov pointed out that stating that the publicly known political accusations and false testimonies about the events of April 27, 2017, which are based on "draconian and unjust court verdicts", the Union of Veterans of VMRO-DPMNE and the Patriotic Institute declare that the fight for justice and freedom for the unjustly convicted will continue until the injustices are redressed.

Pandov said the Declaration condemned "physical violence committed by disorganized individuals", but rejected the classification of the crime as terrorism. The trials, according to Pandov, were political, and the convicts were "stamped without evidence of the crime for which they were convicted, in order to sow fear among the citizens and to achieve political goals, not justice and fairness."

A similar protest was held today in Stip. The ruling Social Democratic Union called VMRO-DPMNE support for the perpetrators and the violence "shameful".

"The protests in front of the prisons in Prilep and Stip, on the fifth anniversary of Bloody Thursday, show that VMRO DPMNE has not changed. To this day, VMRO-DPMNE is behind the violence and the thugs of April 27. VMRO-DPMNE and Hristijan Mickoski, instead of apologizing in public, instead of repenting, they call the convicted thugs heroes and defenders of the Constitution and demand their release. It is shameful to claim that they were convicted only because they were Macedonians, as claimed by the head of the legal commission of VMRO-DPMNE, Toni Menkinovski, it is even more shameful to claim that someone defended the Constitution with a violent intrusion into Parliament armed with metal batons and firearms. Nothing changes in VMRO-DPMNE, it is the same violent and regime party that is on the defensive of crime. "And thugs will never be defenders of the Constitution," reads the reaction from SDSM.