Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski broke the law and abused his position when he failed to remove Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva from her office once she was detained. This, a charge proposed by a civic association claims, allowed Janeva to violate her own authority when she ordered the closure of her Special Prosecutor’s Office in a series of letters sent from prison. The law states that a detained prosecutor is relieved of all powers and authority.

Joveski knew that Katica Janeva is under a criminal investigation and is ordered into detention but he failed to order her removal from the office. This in turn allowed the defendant to abuse her office by sending some sort of written notes ordering that the criminal cases managed by the SPO office are given the Joveski’s office. This included the cases which Janeva initiated illegally, in violation of the deadline she was given for filing charges, is alleged in the charge against Joveski filed by the ZGPP association from Bitola. It is stated that his violated the human rights of the defendants.

The ruling SDSM party endorsed Janeva’s move, expecting that it will allow Joveski, who like Janeva is also an SDSM party loyalist, to continue prosecuting opposition officials. But the move is currently collapsing and SDSM has turned to the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, which was the main victim of Janeva’s actions, to ask for its support for a serious, lawful resolution to the crisis in the Macedonian judiciary.