A court in Turkey has approved the request of the authorities in Skopje for the extradition of the Macedonian citizen, Lupço Palevski – Palço, the main suspect in the murder of 14-year-old Vanja Gjorčevska and 74-year-old Panço Zhezhovski.

“From the Republic of Turkey, we received approval for the extradition of Loupço Palevski. The positive result of the procedure comes after all the measures and maximum activities undertaken by the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice”, announced the Minister of Justice of North Macedonia, Krenar Lloga.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of North Macedonia has announced that the extradition procedure will be carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the proposal of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Skopje, the suspect has already been given a measure of detention, which should begin to be applied immediately after he is extradited from Turkey.

The suspect for the double murder, Lupço Palevski, was arrested by the Turkish police in the city of Balikesiri on December 5.

Three other people are suspected in connection with the murders, while the father of the 14-year-old is also part of the investigation.

The dead body of the 14-year-old was found in an abandoned area on the outskirts of Skopje, while that of the 74-year-old was found in the city of Veles, writes Radio Free Europe.

Vanja Gjorčevska disappeared on November 27, 2023, after leaving home to go to school.

According to the criminal prosecution authorities, “the motive for this case is profit, in which case one of the persons, in agreement with a family member, organized and carried out the act in order to receive money from the mother of the minor girl who then all would have benefit”.

According to the Macedonian police, the other victim from Veles was not related to the girl, but had unexplained accounts with another member of the suspected criminal group.