Skopje, 11 September 2026 (MIA) - Chief Prosecutor Nenad Saveski dismissed on Friday assessments that courts are working under pressure or in service of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Commenting on the reaction after the Supreme Court's decisions on the "Laskarci" case and the case with former Karposh mayor Stevcho Jakimovski, Saveski said the Supreme Court does not assess the indictments, but the legality of decisions made by lower courts. In terms of the "Pulse" case, he said there are legal deadlines for detention which must be respected, however, he added the Prosecutor's Office always has other legal possibilities at its disposal.

Quizzed about comments by former judges and lawyers that courts of first instance adopt verdicts without sufficiently assessing the evidence, which then leads to the decisions being revoked by higher courts, Saveski said such assessments are wrong.

"I cannot accept this, and I absolutely believe that the impression that courts make decisions under pressure, under the influence, or in service of the Public Prosecutor's Office is wrong. The verdicts are made on behalf of the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, on the basis of the application of laws and the evidence in those cases," Saveski said.

Asked whether the problem with "Laskarci" case and the case with former Karposh mayor Stevcho Jakimovski lies in the indictment, Saveski stressed that the Supreme Court did not assess the indictments, but the judicial decisions adopted by lower courts.

"The decisions of higher courts concern the decisions of lower courts. The Supreme Court did not assess the indictments, but the decisions of the first instance and second instance courts," Saveski said.

Regarding the Kochani nightclub fire case "Pulse" and the chance that owner Dejan Jovanov could be released from detention due to the expiration of legal deadlines, Saveski said detention is regulated by law and deadlines that must be respected.

"The length of detention is regulated with law and deadlines. In this case it is certain that these deadlines will soon run out," Saveski noted.

He did not want to say whether the prosecution will request other measures to ensure the presence of the suspect, stressing that the prosecutors working on the case are in charge of such a decision.

"These are decisions to be made by the prosecution and if I express my position, it could create a feeling that I want to impose my own position on the prosecutors working on the case. I don't want that. I will leave this decision to the public prosecutors working on the specific case," Saveski said. 

MIA file photo