On Tuesday, Prosecutor-General Ljupco Kocevski said an order had been issued to arrest another seven police officers over the Kocani fire who would the following day be taken before a judge in the previous procedure. He didn’t rule out the possibility of other officers being detained during the investigation either. “In the frames of a pre-investigative procedure, the Interior Ministry ...

Tuesday’s session of the Political Committee and Intercommunity Relations Committee of Parliament saw the rejection of the initiative filed by the DUI-led European Front’s for an oversight debate over the Kocani fire. The document was supported by four Committee members representing the Front and SDSM. On the other hand, VMRO-DPMNE and VLEN representatives stated that them not voting didn’t mean ...

The Ambassador to Norway, Driton Kuqi, who, in the capacity of ex-Economy Minister, has been named a suspect in the Kocani fire case, has returned to North Macedonia. The Kocani Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office has sought measures of precaution against him too. Since Sunday, the Minister without Portfolio Shaban Saliu, in the capacity of ex-head of the Protection and Rescue ...

The Government has confirmed for Kanal 5 that it will dismiss Xhevat Selami, Director of the Protection and Rescue Directorate, and Minister without Portfolio Shaban Saliu, both of whom are suspects in the Kocani fire case (the latter in the capacity of ex-head of the Directorate). “As the Government, we’re fully committed to a thorough investigation and, in that regard, ...

Former ministers, directors, state secretaries, and authorised construction inspectors are among the new suspects in the Kocani fire case. The expanded investigation has covered ex-Economy Ministers Valon Saracini and Driton Kuqi (both of whom who were part of previous VMRO-DPMNE-DUI cabinets), former State Market Inspectorate Director Viktor Dermendziev, current Minister without Portfolio, Shaban Saliu, in the capacity of former head ...

At a press-conference on Sunday, Prosecutor-General Ljupco Kocevski said the current Economy Minister, Besar Durmishi, wasn’t covered by the Kocani fire investigation because there hadn’t been up to that point any evidence that he’d been asked to extend the Pulse nightclub’s license. As he explained, the investigation has so far covered 45 physical persons and three legal entities. Additionally, Kocevski ...

The Tetovo office of the Association of Judges has responded to the reactions to the verdict made by Tetovo Basic Court Judge Elvedin Ferati in the Teodora Ristovska case. As it said on Thursday, in the retrial, the Judge gave defendant Mensur Pajaziti the max prison sentence, considering the prohibition of reformatio in peius, as a principle provided for in ...

On Thursday, there were new hearings in the frames of trials in which US-blacklisted Struga Mayor Merko is charged with unlawful appointment of school head-teachers. However, the process concerning Zini Hani Primary School in Velesta was postponed because the witness was absent. In that case, Merko and four others are charged with abuse of office and falsification, i.e. Head-teacher Egzona ...

News web portal SlobodenPecat.mk reported that PM Hristijan Mickoski approved the proposals of SDSM leader Venko Filipce discussed at their latest meeting in the government. This means that representatives of the opposition, namely Ana Cupeska and Elena Mihajlova-Stratilati, will become members of the Working Group for Judicial Reforms, even though Justice Minister Igor Filkov already said that such proposals are ...

A court in Skopje has determined a 30-day detention measure for the Director of the Geriatric and Palliative Hospital in Skopje, Muhsin Arifi, and another suspect, after he was caught demanding and accepting bribery in order to accommodate in the hospital an elderly immobile patient. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO), Arifi initially asked for 100,000 euros, and the ...