On Monday and Tuesday, almost all detention cases were postponed at the Criminal Court even though there were no organisational issues, that is, parties were timely summoned. The reason, the Court said on Tuesday, is because detained persons weren’t taken to the venue.
As a result, the institution sent a letter to the management of the Suto Orizari prison, expressing concern because among the postponed processes had been cases in the area of organised crime and corruption, where there were more than 10 people charged. In that regard, the Court added that deadlines for some of them, who were at the prison’s detention ward, were underway and the judicial institution had the duty to act.
According to the Court, among the postponed hearings was one on Tuesday, despite the fact that 12 charged persons, their respective lawyers, and a public prosecutor were present.
However, in response, the prison’s head, Slobodan Utkovski, stated that considering the number of vehicles and reduced number of Prison Police employees, his institution had acted and would act in accordance with its possibilities and capacities.
As he said, 18 August saw eight of 12 processes to transport detained persons completed, while Tuesday saw 16 of 19 carried out. Utkovski added that the prison also transported detainees and convicted persons to all other courts and prosecutor’s offices in the country.