English
The charges related to the 2021 fire in the Tetovo Covid hospital were kept under wrap by prosecutors for years, said VMRO-DPMNE in a statement. The investigation covered the way in which the Zaev – Filipce led Government and Healthcare Ministry conducted the procurement contract to build 19 prefabricated Covid wards – a contract that was given to a company owned by former Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angjusev. Fourteen patients and family members died in the fire that broke out on September 8th 2021, in the ward situated in the grounds of the Tetovo hospital.
The people died while Venko Filipce was Healthcare Minister. The case was postponed by prosecutors Vilma Ruskoska and Elizabeta Josifovska, members of the criminal SPO unit, and then by a third prosecutor. Now, prosecutor Islam Abazi declared Filipce not guilty, said VMRO-DPMNE in the statement.
Abazi, a DUI aligned prosecutor close to that party’s leader Ali Ahmeti, recently announced that he is dropping the investigation.
VMRO noted that the Zaev – Filipce Government amended the law on construction, to allow classification of the Covid wards as “urban equipment”, which allowed for far easier construction criteria regarding the materials that were used and the overall safety of the facilities.
The Covid wards were not listed in the Cadastre, there was no decision by the Government to put them to permanent use and they had not received approval to be used. A number of scandals happened while Filipce was Healthcare Minister, and this case is an example of his abuse of official position, said the ruling party.