A court in North Macedonia acquitted four former high-ranking state and police officials accused of organizing the storming of parliament in 2017, a violent incident known as “Bloody Thursday.”

Judge Ilija Trpkov announced the decision, stating, “The main hearing is over, you may leave, you are free.”

The trial of former parliamentary speaker Trajko Veljanovski, former ministers Spiro Risteski and Mile Janakieski, and former intelligence chief Vladimir Atanasovski concluded with the court granting their request for amnesty.

“The request for application of amnesty submitted by the defendants Trajko Veljanovski, Spiro Risteski, Mile Janakieski and Vladimir Atanasovski is granted,” Trpkov said. “The criminal procedure initiated by the indictment of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption from May 31, 2019, for the criminal offense of Terrorist Threat to the Constitutional Order and Security under Article 313 of the Criminal Code is terminated.”

The ruling halts legal proceedings against the four men after the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime and corruption informed the court in December that it agreed the 2018 Amnesty Law should apply to their case.

Trpkov had previously ruled that the 2018 amnesty did not cover these defendants, but reversed his decision following the prosecutor’s revised stance.

“Some will say that the case of the organizers of the events in the Parliament has fallen, so now the other case for those already convicted for the intrusion into the Parliament should be revised,” Trpkov said. “But that is not so. On the contrary, the case has neither fallen, nor has it been proven that the events in the Parliament were not organized, but mercy was sought from the state for these events. Personally, I thought that the defendants would go to the end to prove that they are not guilty, but that is their right and no one should interfere.”

Defense lawyers for the now-acquitted officials welcomed the decision.

“The evidence presented showed that these individuals had no involvement in the events of April 27,” said attorney Jordan Apostolski. “These acts are terrible against the state, and we call on the public prosecutor to truly investigate who the organizers are.”

“After this case, following the report of the part of the people I represent, an indictment could not and should not have been initiated, nor should it have come into force and lasted all these years,” said attorney Elenko Milanov.

Veljanovski, Risteski, Janakieski, and Atanasovski were accused of orchestrating the violent intrusion into the parliament and the assault on then-opposition lawmakers, an event known as “Bloody Thursday.”

In late 2018, some of those charged in connection with the April 27 events were granted amnesty. Now, six years later, the same has happened for those accused of organizing the attack.