The judiciary in Macedonia is corrupt according to the the US State Department, but according to the head of the Criminal Court, Ivan Dzolev. Dzolev blamed the media for such public perception, because they constantly write that judges are corrupt.

You cannot just claim that officials are corrupt and citizens are not corrupt. I think that the citizens are corrupt and no one writes about it, he said, adding that many people go to him and his colleagues asking to get some job done for them openly expressing their intention to give compensation for that.

I think that the media is also to blame for that, constantly writing that the judges are corrupt. They practically feed the citizens with such information and teach them that in that way they should get justice before the court, said Dzolev.

The accusations against the citizens by the head of the Criminal Court are undoubtedly an alarm that someone should work on the behavior of the citizens as the weakest link in the chain. Therefore, “Republika” asks Ivan Dzolev whether the person who heads the Criminal Court reported corrupt behavior of the citizens. Will Dzolev’s work ethic and professional morality be an example for other judges and officials to go after the corrupt people in order to get even the thought of giving a “tip” out of their mind? And finally, will the public hear the names of those who wanted to give compensation to Dzolev?

We encourage the President of the Court to publish the list of shame so that the judiciary can finally be cleansed of sticky fingers and full pockets.