In Radovish, on 1 September at 15:45, police officers from the Strumica regional department detained three men. They are a 28-year-old from Radovish and two younger men - a 22-year-old from the village of Zleovo and a 26-year-old from the village of Podaresh.

The search was carried out on the basis of a court order, at the home of the eldest of the three. Marijuana was found during the search.

"They brought it"

In his official interview with the police, the homeowner stated that the other two had brought the marijuana into his home earlier.

That is a statement given at a police station, not an established fact. Whether it holds up will be decided by the proceedings. A public prosecutor has been notified, and once the case is documented an appropriate charge will be filed.

Being detained is not a verdict

One rule is worth repeating, because headlines here regularly skip it: detention and the filing of charges do not amount to established guilt. That is determined by a court, through proceedings, not by a fifteen-line police statement.

The case is small in scale and typical in shape. A court order, a search, a substance found, three men detained, a prosecutor informed. What we rarely read later is how it ended.