Journalist Branko Geroski, whose reports led to the charges against Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva and her associates from the major Racket scandal, today called out the now former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and five of his close associates for being deeply involved in the scandal.
Like in his earlier reports, Geroski does not directly name the people he claims are responsible for the extortion of millions of euros from businessmen, abuse of office and ruining Macedonia’s legal system, but makes them easily discernible. According to Geroski, we could expect additional charges soon, as some of the key associates of Janeva, Bojan Jovanovski – Boki 13 and Frosina Remenski were quick to announce their willingness to talk on Friday – just as Zaev was submitting his resignation as Prime Minister.
Besides Boki 13 and Remenski, Geroski cites the comment allegedly made by Katica Janeva herself, during the trial yesterday, where according to some in the press she dryly noted that “Zaev is finished”.
The likelihood of Zaev getting in serious legal trouble grew with today’s report in Vecer, that Boki 13 gave a lengthy testimony to state prosecutors. In it, Boki 13 named a close relative of Zoran Zaev – one V.Z. – as the man he was giving millions of euros to, from the cache of money he extorted.
We are talking about a very close, associate of Zaev, a woman from the leadership of the SDSM party. A very close adviser of Zaev’s from a foreign country. A known intellectual and a well known person from the 1TV television who helped link up Boki and Katica. And worst of all, a man who is very close to Zoran Zaev, who manages all major business deals in this country. The one outstanding question is whether this entire operation was managed with Zaev’s permission, or if Zaev was merely “manipulated”, Geroski writes.
All the characters in the latest report are easy to recognize to any informed reader, but for legal reasons we will not be naming them today. Geroski writes that the fifth person, the one described as very close to Zaev, was in the habit of threatening those who endanger Zaev, and that this might be the reason for the comment Boki 13 gave in court yesterday, that he feels he is in danger.
According to Geroski, his media adviser, named as character number 2 in the short list, who is a foreign citizen, was instrumental in setting up 1TV, the television channel owned by Boki 13. This adviser also selected the journalists and other key staff in the television, and was later using the TV station as an additional tool to extort money from buiinesses. After the extortion ring was set up, Geroski writes, character number 5, the person very close to Zaev and involved in major businesses across the country, got involved in the extortion.
As for the other characters, the female associate of Zaev’s, from the SDSM party, is preparing to leave politics following the elections after she “carried out the entire enterprise”, Geroski writes. The noted intellectual (character number 3) and the journalist (number 4) are both close to Janeva and were her and Boki’s key advisers.
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