Ruskovska Suspended from BPPOOC, Finance Police Director Muaremi Resigns

The State Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski initiated on Tuesday disciplinary procedures against Head of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime (BPPOOC) Vilma Ruskovska and prosecutors Ivana Trajceva and Elizabeta Josifovska, also from BPPOOC. The disciplinary procedures are namely initiated in relation to the search conducted by BPPOOC in the office of the Director of the Finance Police Department Arafat Muaremi. In this case, Ruskovska, Trajceva and Josifovska re suspected of making intentional errors in the process for acquiring a search warrant for Muaremi’s office. So far, the procedure resulted with temporary suspension of Ruskovska from her position in BPPOOC, in accordance with Article 81 of the Law on Public Prosecution. In meantime, Finance Police Director Arafat Muaremi announced that he decided to withdraw from his position. “I made this decision by myself, in order to remove any doubts among the public over the recently initiated disciplinary procedures against the prosecutors from BPPOOC. The Decision of the State Public Prosecutor sent a clear message today that all citizens must obey the laws, even those on high official positions,” Muaremi said. Previously, Muaremi filed criminal charges against the three prosecutors for the same reasons, for which Ruskovska accused that via Muaremi the government is tampering in the independent work of BPPOOC, and sought assistance from the US and the EU for the defence of the independence of the institution she manages.