English
Former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev today filed charges against distinguished cardiologist Zan Mitrev and VMRO-DPMNE member of Parliament Brane Petrusevski, accusing them of slander, and demands a million denars in damages for his tarnished reputation. Doctor Mitrev accused Zaev and current SDSM leader Venko Filipce of extorting him and pressuring him to sell them his large private hospital. Petrusevski echoed these allegations, as well as the allegations that Zaev was heavily involved in the marijuana business.
Zaev’s lawsuit won’t wash him from accountability and it won’t hide the truth. The times when he would order judicial decisions from position of power, and when he pressured judges and prosecutors and silenced those who were asking questions, are over. The institutions today must act in accordance with the law, and now based on phone calls from above, said Petrusevski in response to Zaev’s announcement. The VMRO member of Parliament added that he stands by everything that he said and that he will face Zaev in court.
As the two scandals are roiling the public, Petrusevski today held a press conference on another burning issue – the return to Macedonia of Zaev’s former First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi, who faces corruption charges of eight million EUR. Grubi authorized the State Lottery, which he managed through a loyal DUI party officials, to purchase a large quantity of slot machines in a suspicious procedure. SDSM officials defended Grubi insisting that he was acting in the capacity of a presiding member of the Government.
SDSM seem ready to sacrifice themselves to protect Grubi. If the decision was a collective decision of the Government, than all its members should be held accountable. Are SDSM volunteering to join Grubi in the dock? Or, are they more afraid of what Grubi can reveal about them?, said Petrusevski.