On Wednesday, RKM’s Ratko Kapusevski, his partner at the company, Erdjan Sulkoski, and former ESM commercial director Ardijan Muca, covered in the investigation for procurement of mazut for the Negotino plant, were each issued a 30-day detention measure. However, Pucko Petrol owner Asmir Jahoski was issued a house arrest one. The decision, expectedly, sparked reactions.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organised Crime and Corruption stated that it had sought detention, but the judge in the previous procedure had taken into account family and business circumstances. The Office is yet to appeal the decision.
“The explanatory note says that the judge, while making the decision, took into account also the subjective circumstances on the side of the suspect, that he is a custodian of his four children, three of whom are juvenile, that he has formed solid ties with the state, and that has his own company with multiple employees, as well as that his health condition has been impaired, over which he’s submitted medical documentation”, the Office stated.
However, the Criminal Court said it had been the prosecutor who had approved the house arrest measure. When it comes to politicians, PM Hristijan Mickoski declined to comment.
“I wouldn’t comment on the Court’s decisions. I’ve said this many times in the past. Confidence in the judiciary is what it is. I have nothing to add to that. Everyone who’s broken the law will be held to account, regardless of who it’s about. Let’s wait for the investigation to end. Only then will we be able to comment on what all these reasonable suspicions are with which these persons will be charged. Until then, we will stick to what the Interior Ministry and Public Security Bureau have said publicly”, he noted.
On the other hand, SDSM asked whether the PM’s party, VMRO-DPMNE, had intervened in order for Jahoski, whose father is former DUI MP and ex-Plasnica Mayor Ismail Jahoski, to be issued a house arrest measure instead of a detention one.
“It’s clear why there is only house arrest for the suspect, Pucko Petrol’s Jahoski. The old-new coalition of [VMRO-]DPMNE and DUI obviously functions excellently”, the opposition party noted. The other seven suspects taken to the Court were issued measures of precaution.