English
Prosecutor Lence Ristoska, best known as member of the disgraced trio of special prosecutors (SPO) led by Katica Janeva, is calling on the Council of Prosecutors to condemn Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski for allegedly calling her a “mediocrity” and “part of a clientelistic political matrix”. According to Ristoska, the statement from the Prime Minister, who has been outspoken about the failures of the state prosecutors to go after serious criminal allegations, amount to putting pressure on the judiciary.
Mickoski did not name Ristoska by name, but only as a “former member of the SPO” to respond to her criticism of the latest changes to the Criminal Code. Mickoski said that the changes to the law are meant to restore some of the provisions to go after high level corruption that were removed by the Zaev regime as it was on its way out and its top officials were clamoring for more legal protection for corruption investigations.
Some individuals came out, loudest among them a former member of the former SPO, who says that these new changes reduce the sentences and allow suspended sentences – not that they have sentenced anyone. Even though now we have no sentencing. They were all silent when the crimes were completely erased from the Criminal Code. Imagine their mental matrix. I listen to them and can’t believe the type of mediocrities we are dealing with. But it is what it is, Mickoski said.
Ristoska insists that her statements are not accurately presented and demands protection from the Council of Prosecutors. Along with Janeva, Ristoska was notorious for launching politically driven prosecution of VMRO-DPMNE officials, helping SDSM grab power in the aftermath of the Colored Revolution. In her statement, she notes that “I would emphasize that the President of the Governemnt is also President and legal representative of a political party that is part of criminal procedures that I work on as public prosecutor and has a legal interest in their outcome, and therefore I see these statements as inappropriate pressure on my work and an attempt to influence my actions and decision making”, said Ristoska.