Skopje, 3 November 2023 (MIA) - If any citizen holds evidence in any procedure, they should submit it to the prosecutor's office and help the investigation, said Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski at Friday's session of the Inquiry Committee over the Oncology Clinic case.

Minister Spasovski was answering a question regarding allegations presented yesterday by VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski citing documents obtained from whistleblowers regarding the operations of the Oncology Clinic and the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) in the past couple of years.

"First of all, I cannot not know and shouldn't know what is the intention of someone explaining certain information. If the evidence is there and it is not submitted to the investigative authorities, it constitutes a cover-up of evidence. If the evidence is there and the case document is released publicly, this amounts to compromising the evidence and the entire investigation," said Spasovski.

The Minister added he cannot disclose any information or data over seized documents by the MoI through a court order.

Following Mickoski's press conference, the prosecutor's office said it had previously obtained all financial reports from HIF and the Oncology Clinic for the period between 2015 and 2023. In addition, the Oncology Clinic said earlier today that the information presented by the VMRO-DPMNE leader was not a new revelation or scandal but documents that were handed over to the investigative authorities and the inquiry committee at the beginning of the investigation.

The decision to set up an inquiry committee to look into the Oncology Clinic case was adopted on September 20, after the Public Prosecutor's Office launched a pre-trial investigation following media allegations that Oncology Clinic staff were withholding life-saving medical care from cancer patients and reselling cancer drugs.

Photo: MIA archive