A 56-year-old taxi driver from Gevgelija had the kind of night no driver wants. Around two in the morning, two passengers got into his car, asked for a ride to Šuto Orizari in Skopje and promised to pay when they arrived. When they got there - instead of paying, they physically assaulted him and took his wallet with cash and personal documents, then fled.

The case was reported to SVR Skopje this morning at around five. The Interior Ministry said measures are being taken to find the perpetrators and fully clear up the case. A phrasing anyone who reads the crime pages knows by heart.

The story is short, but it hits something taxi drivers go through every night. They pick up the strangers nobody else wants to drive, in the hours when the street is empty, and carry the whole risk on credit - the fare only comes at the end of the ride, if it comes at all. The „I'll pay when we get there” deal only works as long as the man on the other side means to pay.

This time the driver got off with a lost wallet and bruises. The question is whether the institutions will find the perpetrators, or whether the case will end like so many others - with the phrase „measures are being taken” and no epilogue. For the man behind the wheel, that's the difference between justice and one more ruined night.