A member of the Judicial Council is being charged with involvement in a case of unlawfully purchasing publicly owned land.

The man, who was not named by the police, was the president of a sports club in Tetovo which was operating on state owned land. According to the charges, the man falsely claimed that the club has built a small facility on the plot of land that covered more than 4.400 square meters. This allowed the club to demand the right to purchase the entire plot of land.

Also charged are Tetovo municipal officials who were supposed to inspect the land and who should’ve determined that it is vacant. A total of seven municipal officials were involved in the process under which the judge claimed that he was managing a sports facility built in 1995, which did not exist in reality. As part of the process of legalization and sale of publicly owned land, initiated in 2011, the club demanded the right to purchase the entire plot of land for less than 1 EUR per square meter. The market value, according to the prosecutors, was closer to a million EUR.

The prosecutors are demanding detention for the judge and most of the municipal officials. The role of the Judicial Council is to appoint and dismiss judges, and evaluate their work.