Seven Stab Wounds, and the Suspects at Home: the Attack on a 14-Year-Old in Chento Is Treated as Violence, Not Attempted Murder

Three suspects in the attack on a 14-year-old boy in Skopje's Chento neighborhood received only precautionary measures - and that is exactly what has stirred the public. According to the suspicions, the boy was physically attacked and suffered seven stab wounds. Despite the severity of the injuries, the three are currently not being prosecuted for attempted murder, but for the lesser offense of "violence against a child."

The Basic Criminal Court accepted the prosecution's proposals: the suspects were barred from leaving their place of residence, obliged to periodically report to the competent authority, and had their travel documents temporarily seized. They are also forbidden from approaching or contacting the injured child and his parents. The prosecution says the investigation continues, that all medical documentation is being secured, and that a medical expert assessment is awaited - on which it will depend whether the legal classification changes.

This is exactly where the questions the parents are asking out loud arise. The attack happened on June 22, and the criminal complaint was filed eleven days later. Why so late? In a public statement, the boy's mother claims that one of the attackers carried not only a knife but also an automatic rifle - so she believes the case should be treated as attempted murder, not ordinary violence.

When a child takes seven stab wounds and the suspects go home with only an obligation to report in from time to time, the ordinary citizen has every right to ask: where is the line between "violence" and "attempted murder"? The institutions say it all depends on the expert findings. But for the family spending its nights by a hospital bed, every day of delay is one more day in which justice looks slower than the pain. Who will answer if the assessment shows the classification was wrong from the very start?