The Committee on Rules of Procedures and Mandatory-Immunity Issues has suggested that Parliament should remove the parliamentary immunity of six VMRO-DPMNE MPs upon a detention decision by a Skopje court over their involvement in the violent events on 27 April 2017 in Parliament's building.
These MPs inlcude Krsto Mukoski, Johan Tarculovski, Zaklina Pesevska, Ljuben Arnaudovski, Ljupco Dimovski and Saso Vasilevski.
MPs of the opposition coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE didn't attend the committee's session on Thursday
The six MPs have been already notified about the outcome of the session.
SDSM lawmaker Aleksandar Kiracovski was the only MP who addressed the session. He called the events of April 27 'an attack on democracy and the constitutional order of the country and an attempt to put the lives of then opposition deputies in danger.'
"The institutions of the Republic of Macedonia have full credibility, duty and responsibility to fully investigate the case making sure that justice prevails and that such crimes never happen again."
MP Kiracovski was one of the dozen deputies who were at the press hall in Parliament when it was stormed by a violent mob.
"Every moment, every minute spent at the press hall was worth it, because we had won our fight for justice, democracy, to restore the functioning of a normal system in our country," he stated.
We, Kiracovski added, have fought for years to restore the rule of law in Macedonia, and Parliament should and must be the primary institution where the practice prevails. "No one is above the law, not even us, the MPs," he said elaborating why the MPs voted to strip six MPs of their immunity.
The chairman of the Committee on Rules of Procedures and Mandatory-Immunity Issues, MP Pavle Bogoevski, is tasked with preparing a report, which is set to be forwarded to Parliament. By Saturday at the latest, Parliament should pass the final decision on whether it will remove parliamentary immunity of the six VMRO-DPMNE MPs. A simple majority is required for the deputies to be stripped of their immunity.
The MPs are suspected by the Public Prosecution, along 36 people, of 'terrorist endangerment of the constitutional order and security of the country' in connection of the violent storming of Parliament on 27 April 2017.
