The draft law on amnesty contains five articles and concerns two groups of people. It provides that anyone who has been sentenced to ten years will be immediately released from prison, and those over ten years will have a fifty percent remission of their sentence.

If we take into account that people are in prison for five and a half years, it would effectively mean either immediate or soon release, explains lawyer Janaki Mitrovski in an interview with “Republika”.

It is indisputable that there is guilt among the defendants, but those ordinary mortals received the highest sentences, and those who were higher in the hierarchy and had the political power to bargain, not only did not go to prison but were also rewarded, Ramčilović is an ambassador, Krsto is a millionaire, Kanceska is allegedly on trial. All this creates a revolt for me as a lawyer and for the convicted and their families. With the 2018 amnesty law, all that was left was to write the name and surname for whom this law is intended. The problem with that law was that it was for people who did not commit violent crimes. They were taken out of custody and taken to vote. We do not underestimate the consequences of the actions of the convicted, but the factor remains that there are no consequences of a lost life. We are not saying that those people should not serve their sentences. They have been in prison for the sixth year and we believe that is enough. It is not my responsibility to reach 61 MPs, it is our responsibility to try.

According to him, the situation in Macedonian prisons is terrible, and little is being done to rehabilitate the prisoners themselves.

In Sweden, prison is like a four-star hotel. I believe that in the prisons in Macedonia, phones should be allowed for communication with the family. Maybe not the internet. It will contribute to the discipline of the prisoners.

Mitrovski explains the case of Hristijan Pandikov, which led to the deterioration of relations between Macedonia and Bulgaria.

The problem is that we do not have a serious state and the Bulgarian services can do anything they want and our counterintelligence sleeps instead of suppressing. 0.3 grams of cocaine were found on him and this will not lead to charges because there are no more than two grams intended for sale. If a procedure is being conducted against anyone where attendance measures have not been imposed, you are free to leave the country and return. This case has been misused to make circuses and to send government planes as if there is no hospital in Macedonia.

According to the lawyer, the most scandalous is the behavior of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Osmani, who said that he is not interested in what the investigation will show, but in what the victim said.

That does not bring us to the question of whether we need prosecutions and courts at all. Let the cases go to Osmani and he will solve them and make judgments and he will be the judge and prosecutor. It is undue pressure on the court. It is no secret that the Macedonian judicial and prosecution authority is under the direct influence of politics and this is a clear message that Osmani and the Government expect a conviction.

Listen to the entire conversation in the video interview conducted by Igor Caveski