North Macedonia Appeals Court Upholds Suspended Sentence against Ljubco Georgievski; Lawyer to Appeal to European Court of Human Rights 2026

Balgarianovinite.com The Court of Appeal in Bitola has rejected the appeal against the ruling of the Basic Court sentencing the chair of the now-dissolved Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre in Bitola, Ljubco Georgievski, his lawyer, Naser Raufi, told BTA. Georgievski served as prime minister of his country between 1998 and 2002 and acquired Bulgarian citizenship in 2006. 
The Court of Appeal in Bitola examined the appeal against the ruling of the Basic Court back in May. 
The appellate court thus upheld the one-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation period imposed on Georgievski on charges of xenophobia, racism and dissemination of racial hatred by electronic means over quotes by Ivan Mihailov shared on the association’s Facebook page. Ivan Mihailov (1896-1990) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary in interwar Macedonia and the last leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, regarded as a controversial pro-Bulgarian revolutionary in North Macedonia. 
Raufi has four months to file an application with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. According to him, there were “a number of irregularities” during the first-instance proceedings.
The lawyer had said earlier that if the sentence was upheld, the case would be taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where he expects a favourable ruling. He referred to the 2009 judgment of the same court in the case of the banned Radko association in what was then the Republic of Macedonia. “Radko” was a pseudonym used by Ivan Mihailov.
Raufi also said that during the proceedings before the Basic Court in Bitola, the impression was that it was not Ljubco Georgievski who was on trial, but Ivan Mihailov.
The proceedings against Georgievski began in 2023 after North Macedonia’s Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination referred the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office over content published on the Facebook page of the Ivan Mihailov association in Bitola, arguing that it “violated the feelings and rights of a large number of people.”
The prosecution was also alerted by the Union of Fighters in North Macedonia, and several prosecution witnesses testified in the case, including Lambe Alabakovski, who received a suspended sentence for setting fire to the entrance door of the Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre, as well as witnesses for the defence.
The final defence witness, former prime minister Ljubco Georgievski, testified voluntarily on May 21. He said he had decided to appear after concluding that the proceedings were being conducted not against Ivan Mihailov Cultural Centre Chair Ljubco Georgievski, but against the historical figure Ivan Mihailov.
Raufi also told BTA that an application would be filed with the European Court of Human Rights over the deregistration of the Ivan Mihailov association in Bitola. He noted that the domestic appeal procedure in that case is conducted before two judicial instances and is also nearing completion. North Macedonia Appeals Court Upholds Suspended Sentence against Ljubco Georgievski; Lawyer to Appeal to European Court of Human Rights 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-13 15:43:21 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