Thursday saw a fourth unsuccessful attempt to start the trial over the IPARD case. A representative of one of the accused legal entities didn’t show up because, as he claimed, he had not been properly notified by the Criminal Court.
He stated that he’d expected the Court to notify him directly, despite an obligation undertaken for one of the defense lawyers to do so. That issue triggered a dispute among the attorneys in the courtroom.
“I ask the Court to warn attorney [Nenad] Janichikj not to manipulate facts just for someone to be under house arrest longer. Here, three defendants have been in detention for four months, while the tendency to ensure that others spend as much time as possible under house arrest is obvious”, defense attorney Sofija Lalichikj said.
However, Janichikj stated there was no stalling and that “we want to prove [our case]”. Judge Lenka Davkitkova said she was issuing a final warning to everyone involved in the process, emphasizing that attendance was mandatory. The next hearing is scheduled for June 4.
Among those charged in the case are former Payment Agency Director Ilija Stoilev, Xhevdet Nasufi, who served as minister in the 1998-2002 cabinet headed by Ljubcho Georgievski, and civil servants. According to the charge, Nasufi was offering a 50,000-euro bribe in exchange for a project of a Struga-based company to be accepted and for it to get IPARD funds.