Amnesty Draft Law to be Prepared at Meeting Held by Week’s End

By mid-December, the Reconciliation Commission will need to propose a draft law concerning an amnesty in relation to the 27 April 2017 attacks in Parliament. The first draft version will be prepared at a meeting it will held by the end of the week. The idea, according to the independent parliamentary group of VMRO-DPMNE, upon whose demand the law is being prepared, is to end the developments resulting from the 27 April 2017 events in a way that is not in contradiction with the rule of law principle. According to unofficial information, the plan is for there to be a different degree of exclusion from accountability depending on the participants’ role. The new opposition group said on Monday that the amnesty would not be able to be separated from both the constitutional changes process and the reform laws. In its view, the activities will aim at a deal on all those matters in one package. SDSM, too, said the law would imply different treatment for different categories of participants. However, the ruling party is adamant that there will be no selective justice. VMRO-DPMNE, on the other hand, stated that “the reconciliation is turning into a settlement.” Even though it is not part of the Commission, the party is ready to accept a law for the group only if it is identical or similar to its amnesty draft law, which will be on the agenda at a plenary session on 26 November. Prosecutor Vilma Ruskovska, the creator of the charge in the case, doesn’t feel the announcement of a potential amnesty as pressure on the Prosecutor’s Office. She declined to comment on the issue of different degree of exclusion from accountability depending on the participants’ role.