Macedonia Begins New Trial against Bulgarian Mother Mitrova

In March, the Court in the Macedonian town of Gevgeli ruled to give custody rights to Serbian Voislav Savic, father of 3-year old-Suzanna and estranged husband of Bulgarian Spaska Mitrova (picture). Photo by BGNES

The Macedonian authorities begin Wednesday a new trial against Bulgarian mother, Spaska Mitrova, the nationalist VMRO party informs in a press release.

The trial has been filed by the same team of magistrates, who previously sentenced Mitrova to 3 months behind bars. This time, the young women will be tried for contempt of court over calling the magistrates “udbashi” (a nickname used for the agents of the Serbian secret services – UDBA).

The VMRO Deputy Chair, Angel Dzambaski, and the VMRO Sofia branch coordinator, Stefan Grancharov, are traveling to the town of Kavadartsi, where the trial is going to be held, to offer their support to Mitrova.

“The trial comes just 2 days after Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, declared unconditional support for Macedonia's aspirations to become EU member. If there were suspicions the previous cases against Mitrova had political motives, this one is without any doubt political and the Bulgarian government must stand firm behind her,” the Tuesday declaration reads.

The young woman, who lives in Macedonia, holds a Bulgarian passport and perceives herself as Bulgarian. She was sentenced and served time in a Macedonian prison over charges she did not allow her husband to see their daughter Suzanna. She was released on parole, but then the parental rights case began. Mitrova has been the cause of diplomatic scandal between the two countries in 2009.

On March 11, the Court in the Macedonian town of Gevgeli ruled to give custody rights to the father of 3-year old Suzanna and Mitrova's estranged husband, Serbian Voislav Savic.

In the aftermath of the news about the Court's rule, the Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed deep concern over the way the custody trial was held, defining it as non-transparent and staged in the conditions of a very negative public environment, which included physical force, detention, and depriving the mother of her right to see her child.

The Ambassador of Macedonia to Sofia, Alexander Vasilevski, was called the next day to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry to provide clarifications about the Macedonian position regarding the Gevgeli court rule.

In mid-March, the Bulgarian Members of the European Parliament from all political groups decided to notify EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood, Stefan Fule, about Mitrova's case.

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