Skopje, 26 January 2024 (MIA) – As a result of the amendments to the Criminal Code, the Appellate Court ruled Friday to annul the first-instance verdict in the “Talir 2” case and returned the case to the first-instance court for a retrial.

Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, and the former government Secretary General, Kiril Bozhinovski, were indicted as part of the case concerning the construction of the headquarters of VMRO-DPMNE in Skopje.

The Court also ordered a new 30-day detainment for Gruevski which would become valid upon arrest.

According to the verdict for the case dubbed “Talir 2”, reached by the Criminal Court on June 7, 2022, Gruevski and Bozhinovski abused their official position and authorization and contrary to the laws on political parties and financing, enabled a construction agreement between the party and legal entity “AD Beton”, obtaining property gain of over Mden 132 million.

In the first-instance verdict, the Criminal Court sentenced Gruevski to six years in prison, while Bozhinovski received probation. The court also ruled to confiscate VMRO-DPMNE’s party headquarters.

Photo: MIA Archive