The Special Prosecutor’s Office announced that it will begin handing over its files to the OJO/PPO service, in accordance with the controversial order Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva gave from prison.
With this, the SPO office is effectively being disbanded. Janeva’s mandate expires on September 15th, as the ruling majority in Parliament refused to have her dismissed ahead of this date despite her scandal and arrest.

The institution itself could legally carry on for a few years more, but there is little will to allow it to do so in light of the reports of serious abuse and the parties are talking about setting up another office that would fight serious crimes. The parties are disputing whether Janeva has the right to give the cases to OJO, issuing orders from prison where she is sent precisely for abusing the work of her SPO office.

In a statement for PressingTV, Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski, who is the head of OJO, acknowledged that the letters sent by Janeva from prison were undated and did not have the SPO seal on them. The notes were handwritten, except for one that was also partially printed using a computer. Still, Joveski insist that the documents should be considered legitimate.

There were widespread reports that the SPO staff were unwilling to sign off on the request to give up their files, as they were also doubting the legitimacy of Janeva’s order. The most important part in the SPO archive is the cache of wiretaps prepared by a group of rogue intelligence agents who worked with the SDSM party to help it assume power. It’s believed that the tapes were used to blackmail politicians and extort money from businessmen. Joveski said that his OJO office is technically prepared to receive the files and store them. The SDSM party considers Joveski as a loyal hand and favors the option that the SPO case files are given to him, believing that it will allow the Government to continue its campaign of political persecution of the opposition.

Meanwhile, the SPO employees are most concerned with their jobs. In a widely mocked open letter sent to the Embassies of the United States, the European Union and the Netherlands, as well as to domestic officials, they insist that they are allowed to keep their well paid jobs despite the shocking abuse of public trust on their part.