A far-right party leader in North Macedonia suspected in the murder of a 14-year-old girl kidnapped with her dad’s help has been arrested in Turkey.
Ljupco Palevski, 58, nicknamed Palcho, who is wanted for two murders, including that of the girl, was arrested while walking along the highway in the city of Balikesir, located in Turkey’s Marmara region, on Tuesday, 5th December.
Palevski reportedly arrived in Turkey through Serbia and Bulgaria after he left North Macedonia on 30th November, following the gruesome murder of Panche Zhezhovski, 74, and Vanja Gjorchevska, 14.
Vanja was bundled into a sleeping bag when Palevski and his accomplices Velibor Manev, Vlatko Keshishev, and Bore Videvski snatched her from her home at around 7.30am on Monday, 27th November.
They then drove to the village of Brazda, in North Macedonia’s capital Skopje, where Palevski became worried she would identify them, and shot her to death at around 10am.
The group then buried her body in a makeshift grave and torched the Citroen kidnap car.
Cops investigating the case found the kidnap car had been taken from the gang’s second victim, Panche Zhezhovski, from the city of Veles.
Zhezhovski, who was a retired hairdresser, was reportedly shot dead over a EUR 500 (GBP 429) debt owed to one of the gang members on 22nd November.
His dead body was found in the vicinity of Veles the same day police found 14-year-old Vanja’s remains, on 3rd December.
Police believe the group had acted on a plot that also involved the girl’s father, Aleksandar Gjorchevski, who tipped them off about his daughter’s route to school and alerted them to the fact her mother had recently come into money.
Their goal was to secure a ransom payment from Vanja’s mother, Zorica Gjorchevska, who had just sold a luxury apartment and had cash to hand.
Manev, Keshishev, and Videvski, as well as Vanja’s father, are all being held in custody at the Shuto Orizari prison.
Palevski, who is a former construction entrepreneur and the president of the ‘Desna’ (‘Right’) political party was sought after on an international arrest warrant as of 4th December.
He was involved in pro-Russian activities in recent years, said media.
Minister of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia, Oliver Spasovski, 47, said that police found two guns which are now being examined.
Spasovski added that the autopsies of the victims’ bodies have been completed and that the results have been handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
He said in a press conference on 5th December: “Peace, stability, and security cannot be threatened by anyone. Such a criminal nest, as it has been created, must be broken to its core.”
