The Council of Public Prosecutors of the Republic of Macedonia confirmed the decision of the State Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski from August 16 of this year, by which the head of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption, Vilma Ruskovska, is removed from office as long as criminal proceedings are under way regarding the actions taken following the report filed by the former director of the Financial Police Administration Arafat Muaremi over the search on July 18 in the Administration.

The session, during the discussion on Ruskovska’s complaint, was closed to the public, and the Council of Public Prosecutors President Antonio Jolevski, explaining the decision to the journalists, said that based on the facts and circumstances, the Council decided that the public prosecutor Vilma Ruskovska should be removed from office as long as criminal proceedings are under way regarding the actions taken for the search of the Financial Police Office and a case opened following an anonymous report in order not to affect the probe with her presence and to establish the facts surrounding the criminal case.

Jolevski also expressed the expectation that the procedure in the Skopje Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office will end quickly and that the suspension will not last for a long time.

At yesterday’s 63rd session, the Council of Public Prosecutors unanimously decided to reject the appeal for the suspension of prosecutor Ruskovska as unfounded. The council decided with eight out of 11 members, since two are retired and no new ones have been elected yet, and prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski did not attend due to a conflict of interests.

The reason for these “unpleasant situations”, according to Jolevski, is the lack of cooperation between the two prosecutors – Ruskovska and Ljubomir Joveski.