Verdicts for Titanic Case Decided

The Skopje Criminal Court handed down four prison sentences and four suspended sentences, including to former officials in Nikola Gruevski’s government, for the first case opened by the former SPO – Titanic, alleging crimes against elections and voting in the 2011 parliamentary elections and the local elections 2013. Mile Janakieski – prison sentence of 4 years and 6 months, Gordana Jankuloska – prison sentence of 2 years and 6 months, Martin Protugjer – suspended sentence of 2 years, Biljana Briskovska-Boskovski – suspended sentence of 2 years, Katerina Velovska – suspended 2 years imprisonment, Kiro Todorovski – 2-year probation, Munir Pepi – 1 year imprisonment, Kosta Mitrovski – 3 years imprisonment. At the last hearing, they pleaded guilty to most of the offenses they were charged with, but not to some such as misuse of campaign finance funds – an offense that will continue to be tried. Judge Osman Shabani, pronouncing the verdict, said that the fugitive ex-prime minister Gruevski, who is the first accused in the case, gave the directions, Janakieski and Jankulovska committed crimes from the position of ministers. For the other defendants who did not plead guilty, including Ilija Dimovski and Kiril Bozinovski and the others, the trial continues on 9 March.