Deskoska: Only Justice Ministry is responsible for Pardoning Procedures

The Justice Minister Renata Deskoska, commenting on the information that some of the convicts in the “27 April Parliament Incidents” case requested pardoning by the President Gjorge Ivanov, said that all pardoning procedures can be implemented only by the Ministry of Justice. “First of all, Article 11 of the Law on Pardoning which stipulated such a procedure on the part of the President has been deleted. The second obstacle comes from the fact that presidential elections have been scheduled, meaning that no pardons can be given during the election period. Once the elections were scheduled, the Justice Ministry has not forwarded any pardoning cases to the President’s Office. Once the State Election Commission officially declares the elections as complete, pardoning requests can be forwarded to the President,” Deskosak explains.