A bizarre testimony took place at the Skopje courthouse today where Jadranka Gulevska, an Interior Ministry official, testified that about alleged irregularities in the issuing of identity documents during the 2013 municipal elections.
Gulevska is a witness for the former Special Prosecutor’s Office in a case that this now thoroughly discredited unit initiated against former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and other top officials of his Government. The charges aim to prove that there were cases of citizens falsely applying for identity cards that would allow them to vote in swing municipalities, without having proper claim to residency there.
During the testimony, Gulevska was prompted to change her statement several times after consulting with the prosecutor. At one point she was asked whether it is true that the SPO initially interrogated her as a suspect and not witness. She said yes, byt then replied no after catching the eye of prosecutor Lile Stefanova. This leading of the witness by the prosecutor happened a number of times during the hearing, and Gulevska also maintained eye contact and visibly sought approval for what she is about to say from Katerina Tundzeva, the daughter of an SDSM party official who worked for the SPO. Gulevska said that she had a verbal agreement with the SPO over her testimony.
The SPO is being disbanded after its chief prosecutor Katica Janeva was charged with massive corruption and abuse of office. Stefanova was also considered a deeply problematic prosecutor, even by SPO standards. She was interrogated for her role in the racketeering that was conducted through the SPO office and was also reportedly using her close ties to a construction mogul to demand a real-estate gift from Janeva’s main target – businessman Jordan Orce Kamcev.
Even with Janeva in detention, her prosecutors were allowed to continue leading the same cases as before, now through the OJO office of state prosecutors in an apparent deal made between Janeva and the Zaev Government to continue maintaining pressure on the opposition with their abuse of the judiciary.
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