
The instruction on corruption cases coincided with criticism from Mickoski, assures Kocevski
The instruction from the state public prosecutor to give priority to the handling of corruption cases coincided with the announcements of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski that an action against corrupt judges and prosecutors is starting, says the public prosecutor of RSM, Ljupco Kocevski, in an interview for "360 degrees" on MRT1.
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When asked what should be concluded - whether the pressure from the prime minister gave results or whether the prosecution, with the instructions, admitted that it was not working properly, Kocevski says that his intention some time ago was "to give priority to all the cases that are in public interest".
"It's not like that, because any criticism can be understood as well-intentioned. However, in this particular case, perhaps, what the Prime Minister said coincided with what was my intention – to give priority to all subjects that are in the interest of the public. I worked it out for a while, but some things fell into place. By saying that I can assure the public that the public prosecutor's office cannot be under pressure from the government or the opposition, because the public prosecutor's office must work in accordance with the law and the rules provided for by the law itself," Kocevski says.
He also disagrees with the thesis that with the instruction he practically admits that the prosecutor's offices did not act properly until that moment, if you take into account the remarks of the prime minister to the prosecutors that "they get diarrhea, stomach cramps, headaches and anxiety before signing an important order " and the answer of Kocevski who then said that "he takes the appeals from the executive authority and the public to increase the activity of all with extreme seriousness investigative authorities, and especially the Public Prosecutor's Office in the fight against corruption".
"It is not so, because the public prosecutor's office is continuously working, but the problem is that evidence is very difficult to secure and this priority is not only for public prosecutors to prioritize corruption cases, but to update all cases, considering that all orders which are given to certain authorities, in a certain period no adequate evidence is obtained. Which means that the public prosecutor's office has now given priority to updating all those cases, to all those orders that are being acted upon in order to obtain certain evidence from the bodies from which they are requested", added Kocevski.
Regarding the meeting that was postponed at the request of the prosecutor in question due to diarrhea, Kocevski says that it is about the "State Lottery" case. But according to him, the delay did not significantly affect the case, nor is there information about more delays, as claimed by Mickoski.