A carpet was left as present for Justice Minister Bojan Maricic today, after a scandal involving his father Momir Maricic broke out in public. Two lawyers told Netpress that years ago Momir Maricic, a former powerful prosecutor, asked them to buy him a pricey rug if they want to have favorable treatment in the prosecutor’s office.

The lawyers went out and bought the rug Momir Maricic pointed out, paying about 200 EUR for it. They remained anonymous, but the Netpress news site, which broke the story, published a statement from lawyer Antonio Apostolski in whose office the lawyers worked at the time. He confirmed that the prosecutor engaged in this petty form of corruption, asked for and received a rug from his colleagues.

Activists from VMRO-DPMNE bought another rug, which they left in front of the Justice Ministry today. The opposition party is initiating a vote of no confidence in Bojan Maricic as Justice Minister, after the publication of the latest Transparency International report. In it, Macedonia was ranked at its historic worst place – 111th in the world in fighting corruption. The report polled businessmen, activists, professionals who often deal with state institutions such as the prosecutor’s office, who gave the worst ever grades to Macedonian institutions and their involvement in crime and corruption.