Police Union: Suspects Tried to Run Over Officers and Seized an Officer's Service Weapon on Skopje–Tetovo Highway
The union says suspects tried to run over officers on the Skopje–Tetovo highway, took an officer's weapon, fled and later were found with drugs after traffic crashes.
The Independent Police Union condemned attempts to politicize and attach an ethnic label to the recent police operation against illegal drug trafficking on the Skopje–Tetovo highway.
According to the union, the suspects first tried to run over police officers during the operation and then took a service weapon from one of the officers. The union said the suspects fled and caused several traffic accidents on the Skopje–Tetovo highway; the suspects sustained injuries in those crashes and, during a subsequent inspection, drugs were found.
Union calls for a full investigation
In its public statement the union also warned against making ethnicity a factor in judging the work of officers. "The fact of what nationality the colleagues who act and put their lives at risk to prevent this type of serious crime are is absolutely irrelevant," the Independent Police Union said.
The union urged the competent institutions to thoroughly review the entire incident and the conduct of the police officers involved, and asked political parties to refrain from, in the union's words, "taking the side of crime."
No individual names were released by the union in its statement, which focused on describing the sequence of events and on demanding an impartial probe by authorities.
Photo: press material from the event
