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Reactions from VMRO-DPMNE, the public, and judicial representatives over the case of 20-year-old Vasil Jovanov, the person detained on suspicion that on 29 January, he had been behind the wheel in the traffic accident in which 22-year-old pedestrian Frosina Kulakova was killed, have continued.
VMRO-DPMNE MP Mile Lefkov said on Wednesday SDSM should answer questions about the family house in Rankovce, owned by Judge Daniela Aleksovska-Stojanovska (who abolished a detention measure and decided to send Jovanov to a house of correction the previous drugs case), where a SDSM HQ was located, that is, he stressed the party should say whether it had paid rent or the Judge had allowed it to be located there free of charge, which would be classified as a donation, according to the law.
“Whatever the link between the Judge and party is, it is deep. Hence, we call on the Judicial Council to, considering this, dismiss her from the position of Judge”, the parliamentarian said.
Judicial Council President Aleksandar Kambovski stated the same day his institution was already considering papers related to the previous court cases against Jovanov. Some Criminal Court judges, despite extending condolences over Kulakova’s death, backed Aleksovska-Stojanovska.
According to them, she was guided only by legal provisions, the free judge’s conviction, established Court practice, and the Public Prosecutor’s allegations. As they said, the best act of sanction in accordance with the Criminal Code, which influences the defendant in terms of him realizing he’d carried out unlawful activities, was made.
As the judges added, that it’s unknown whether if a prison sentence decision had been made, the measure would have been able to persist before higher court instances, considering practice so far, recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights, and constant criticism from the international community that the detention measures mustn’t be used as punishment.
They also stressed that during the process, the Prosecutor appealed only the criminal sanction, not the detention aspect. Also on Wednesday, Frosina’s friends said they would organize a protest march that would take place on Saturday in Negotino.
