12 Sep Marusic: Why is Macedonia so Selective about Drugs Busts?
In his column published on the Balkan Insight website, Sinisa Jakov Marusic posed veeri important questions about Macedonia’s police selective approach in tits fight against drugs. You can read the whole text here.
“The arrest of a famous actor for growing marijuana prompts questions about why the police are interested in some drugs more than others.
The Macedonian police had been following Kiril Pop Hristov, popularly known as Kili, for six months before raiding his holiday home near Skopje where they discovered a small but carefully maintained marijuana lab.
After the bust last week, a judge ordered 30 days detention for the flamboyant and eccentric actor, famous for supporting the legalization of marijuana, a bohemian lifestyle and, last but not least, a Salvador Dali-lookalike moustache.
In a meticulously planned arrest, clearly intended to generate headlines, the police disseminated video footage of the lab, showing Kili in his flip-flops standing still as the police film his house.
The equally meticulously formulated police report states that Kili and his brother, Mio, a musician, purchased marijuana seeds in The Netherlands before planting them in their back yard.
The report discloses only the actor’s initials, as if to maintain that the principle of privacy protection and presumption of innocence were not already blatantly violated by the police video.
The case raises questions about whether marijuana is the only drug in Macedonia that the police truly care about as I do not recall any recent big bust of cocaine, heroin or meth in Macedonia.
Instead, you frequently hear the police boasting of the arrest of some small-time cannabis dealer or user. That makes headlines.
One story comes to mind. I believe it was last summer when the police proudly announced they had arrested two foreign tourists smoking pot on Gradiste beach in Lake Ohrid. Tough luck, as you could probably count more marijuana butts than pebbles on that beach.
But you rarely hear anything in Macedonia about big drug lords.
It also seems to help if you are the young well-dressed, well-behaved son or daughter of a local politician or businessman.
There was no storm in the mainstream media when in May, Filip Veljanovski, the 20-year-old son of Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanovski, was arrested in Greece for possession of cocaine and ecstasy.
If anything, most media outlets simply ignored the news from Greece, or downplayed it.
During the ongoing trial in Greece, Veljanovski’s lawyer, Jakovos Psomiadis claimed the drugs were for personal use.
I have no reason to doubt this. But I do doubt the police minister’s favorite statement that no one is above the law”.