A crime against one person is a crime against human kind

Stones and calls for vengeance won’t bring anything good to anyone. Taking justice in your hands will bring more tears, suffering and death. Condemning all Albanians for this cruel crime is a serious felony, too. And vice versa, taking all Macedonians responsible for the crimes when Albanians suffered or lost their lives is absolutely wrong. You all need to stop doing that and get out of the vicious spiral of hate and violence

Brutal, cold-blooded violence and slaughter knocked at our doors.

Another frightening news.

Five men were shot dead near Skopje on the evening of April 12. Victims are four youngsters in their teens or early twenties and one 45-yer-old.

Shocking. Unbelievable. Tragic.

I send my deepest condolences to families of the victims of this dreadful crime, aware how unspeakable their pain must be. Knowing that no words or deeds can replace such unthinkable loss… There is no word of condolences and comfort to ease the pain of a mother or father, brother or sister in grief. I lost my brother when he was 29. The pain today, nine years after, is the same as the day one.

All we can do when we face such immense loss it to learn how to endure pain. In time, it will only become bearable, but pain is always there, it never vanishes. One can never get used to the loss, it hurts forever.

The brutal murder of the five in Skopje on the eve before the Good Friday is an act of a cowardice. There is nothing heroic in killing a person. There is nothing human in that filthy act.

Whoever is the killer or took part in this massacre and thought it’s just to kill for whatever reason, be that crime, blood thirst, vendetta or anything else – did something irretrievable and horrible. The only remaining human act that the perpetrator(s) can take is to surrender to the authorities and face justice.  That won’t bring the victims lives back, but certainly will help all of us stop wandering in the shadow of this dreadful crime.

Dear fellow citizens, stones and calls for vengeance won’t bring anything good to anyone. Taking justice in your hands will bring more tears, suffering and death. Condemning all Albanians for this cruel crime is a serious felony, too. And vice versa, taking all Macedonians responsible for the crimes when Albanians suffered or lost their lives is absolutely wrong. You all need to stop doing that and get out of the vicious spiral of hate and violence. It’s extremely difficult to put broken windows together, take words of hate back, build bridges of friendship when they are torn down. It only takes a moment to destroy; it takes time without end to rebuild.

The state institutions have to manifest high ethical and professional attitudes and bring criminals to justice. The police needs to remain calm and professional; politicians and community leaders need to be cooperative and wise, and appeal for peace. Institutions must work properly and in harmony with justice, law and order, respecting human rights and freedoms of all. That is how confidence will grow, and weapons will be expelled from homes.

We all need to remain dignified in these difficult times. A crime against one man or a woman is a crime against all of us, regardless of the ethnic, religious, racial or social background. If we all think of this today, we save ourselves from disgrace and crimes of false accusation. We will be saved from the insanity of violence that hurts all of us and the generations to come.

Xhabir Deralla

President of Civil