Balgarianovinite.com The Court of Appeal in Bitola, North Macedonia, examined on Tuesday the appeal against the ruling of the Basic Court against the chair of the now-dissolved Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre in Bitola, Ljupco Georgievski. He was tried for xenophobia, racism and dissemination of racial hatred by electronic means over quotes by Ivan Mihailov shared on the Facebook page of the association. Georgievski’s lawyer Naser Raufi requested that the sentence be overturned.
“I believe this is a distortion of the law – I would use an even stronger word – perversion, because it concerns published words and interviews of Ivan Mihailov for foreign media, which according to the judicial panel are incriminating. The publication of quotes cannot lead to criminal liability. They can be found on the internet and have simply been republished. There can be no question of spreading any kind of hatred. It is also nonsense to claim that the premises of the Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre were deliberately opened on a Jewish holiday,” Raufi said after the hearing.
According to him, if the sentence of one year suspended with a probation period of two years against Georgievski is upheld, a case will be filed with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where he expects a positive ruling, referring to the 2009 judgment of the same court in the case of the banned association Radko (a pseudonym of Ivan Mihailov).
Raufi pointed out that during the trial at the Basic Court in Bitola, the impression was that it was not Ljupco Georgievski who was on trial, but Ivan Mihailov.
“I am innocent. No matter how hard they try, the Bulgarian spirit in [North] Macedonia will never perish. The spirit of Ivan Mihailov and of the historical Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in [North] Macedonia will never perish. I am innocent because I spoke the truth, because I shared quotes by Ivan Mihailov, and we hope that the truth will come to light,” Georgievski said after the hearing.
Diplomats from the Embassy of Bulgaria in North Macedonia and the country’s Consulate General in Bitola also attended the Tuesday hearing of the Court of Appeal in Bitola.
Since July 2023, Georgievski has been facing charges of spreading racist and xenophobic materials, raised after complaints from the then-member of the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, Vesna Bendevska, from the ZNAM Movement. The offence in question consists in “spreading by a computer system of racist and xenophobic written material, photo or other representation of an idea or theory helping, promoting or stimulating hatred, discrimination or violence, regardless against which person or group, based on sex, race, skin colour, class, membership in a marginalized group, ethnic background, language, nationality, social background, or religious belief”. On conviction, it carries imprisonment of one to five years.
The prosecution was also alerted by the Union of Fighters in North Macedonia, and several witnesses for the prosecution were questioned in the case, including Lambe Alabakovski, who received a suspended sentence for setting fire to the door of the Ivan Mihailov Cultural Club, as well as witnesses for the defence.
As the final witness for the defence in the case on May 21, the former prime minister of North Macedonia Ljubco Georgievski appeared of his own accord, stating that he had taken this decision after establishing that the case was being conducted not against Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre Chair Ljupco Georgievski, but against the historical figure Ivan Mihailov. Bitola Court of Appeal Hears Ljupco Georgievski’s Appeal against Xenophobia, Racism Conviction 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-05 14:28:27 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law