Srdjan Amet remembers Zoki Faci on his birthday

On the birthday of the late Macedonian showbiz journalist Zoran Vasilevski — known as Zoki Faci — his long-time lawyer and close friend Srdjan Amet shared intimate memories in an emotional conversation. Though their relationship began as a professional one, Amet says it evolved into a deep personal friendship that revealed sides of Vasilevski the public rarely saw.

"What I miss most is his presence and the energy he carried with him. Zoki was a man who, even when nothing special was happening, knew how to make the moment special," Amet said, recalling how Vasilevski could lift any room simply by being there. Nearly two years after his passing, those small, everyday moments remain what Amet misses most.

Asked for the first image that comes to mind, Amet smiles at the memory. "His contagious smile and the way he could turn the most ordinary conversation into a story. That’s the image that immediately appears before my eyes," he said. Meetings with Zoki, Amet explains, were rarely short: "They were almost never brief. We would sit for coffee and one topic would lead to ten others. He always had something to say, someone to mention and a joke to make us laugh."

Anecdotes and the disguise of humour

Amet recounts a long list of memories but singles out one trait above all: Zoki’s ability to defuse serious moments with a joke. "We have many, but what I remember most is his ability to find a way to joke even in the very serious situations. Zoki simply knew how to disarm the weight of the moment," Amet said, describing how humour was both a shield and a bridge in their friendship.

Beyond the public persona, Amet stresses that Vasilevski was more emotional than viewers might have thought. "He was much more emotional than people perhaps knew from television. As a lawyer he was my client, but over time he became someone I could honestly call a friend. And yes, he was exactly the kind of person who could change your mood in five minutes," Amet said, describing the warmth that carried their bond beyond professional duties.

When asked what he would tell Zoki if he could hear him now, Amet offered a simple message: "I would tell him that he is not forgotten. That he is missed and that I am grateful life gave me the chance to meet not just Zoki Faci but the person Zoki." He closed by saying what he would most like to relive: "An ordinary meeting. No special reason, no rush. Just to sit for coffee and talk for hours again. Today, those ordinary moments are the most precious to me."

Photo: press material from the event