English
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski blasted the decision of outgoing organized crime prosecutor Islam Abazi to drop the investigation into the Tetovo Covid hospital fire, that killed 14 patients and family members. The makeshift Covid ward burnt down in 2021, as Macedonia was marking its 30th anniversary of independence. A dozen improvised wards were built skirting construction and safety laws under direct initiative from Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce, and the contract was given to a company owned by Zaev’s former Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angjusev.
Unortunately, the prosecutor, who likely has a debt to repay to the previous Government, ultimately delivered for them. He does not care that 14 people were burnt alive, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski. Prosecutor Abazi is believed to have been appointed to his position because of his close ties to the DUI party and his neighbor, DUI leader Ali Ahmeti. DUI had dominant control over the Tetovo municipality and was influential in the Healthcare Ministry at the time of the fire, and shielded its officials who were suspected of involvement in the fire.
This decision will not amount to political amnesty. If new evidence or details appear, the case can be reopened and the procedure can continue. This case can start from the beginning, said Mickoski, added that this decision is scandalous.
VMRO-DPMNE issued a statement insisting that the case was slow-rolled by two prosecutors from the disgraced and completely partisan SPO unit – Vilma Ruskoska and Elizabeta Josifovska, both of them close to the SDSM party, before it was finally dropped by a DUI aligned judge.
Filipce responded by saying that he dreadfully regrets the lives that were lost and sympathises with the families. But, he insists that the decision of the prosecutors “proves that there were no abuses, or damage to the public budget – and that reflects my entire work in politics, and as a doctor”.