Disbelief and despair could be seen on the faces of over a hundred Macedonians upon hearing the final verdict of Hague Tribunal judge Patrick Robinson confirming Johan Tarculovski’s sentence to 12 years in prison at the same time acquitting Ljube Boskoski of the indictment for the Ljuboten case. The court session that took 27 minutes started at the building of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague at about 9.30 Wednesday. Judge Robinson refused all seven counts of Tarculovski’s defense and the appeal of the prosecution regarding Ljube Boskoski’s release verdict, Nova Makedonija reports.

Sonja Tarculovska, Johan’s wife, rushed out of the courtroom with tears in her eyes before the final ruling was pronounced. When the verdict against Tarculovski was pronounced, the people in the court chanted his name. However, there were no reactions when the release verdict for Ljube Boskoski, who came alone, was confirmed.

“This is not a court of justice but of shame. This is a court that does not take into account evidence but unconfirmed statements. The decision is disgraceful. Each day Johan spends in jail is a shame for Macedonia. There is politics in this whole case. The USA is doing very bad things every day, civilians get killed around the world and nobody is held accountable. Macedonia is a small country and therefore such decisions are taken,” Tarculovski’s attorney Nathan Dershowitz said.