Skopje, 4 July 2023 (MIA) – Skopje Appellate Court announced the decision on the Titanic 1 case, reducing or cancelling the sentences of some of the defendants. The suspended sentence remains for the former chief of the cabinet of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Martin Protogjer. Former Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, who was sentenced to prison by the decision of the first instance court, also received a suspended sentence. The former Minister of Transport and Communications Mile Janakieski was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment.

With the verdict, the former employee of the Ministry of the Interior, Munir Pepikj, also receives a suspended sentence.

In this case, last February, Jankuloska was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, Janakieski, as one of the associates of ex-prime minister Gruevski, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, Kosta Mitrovski was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and Munir Pepikj was sentenced to one year in prison.

The Titanic 1 case concerns election and voting fraud for the 2011 parliamentary elections and the 2013 local elections.

At the beginning of 2016, the former Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) Titanic opened its first investigation for Titanic 1 case, which concerned alleged electoral fraud. On February 11, 2022, at the third hearing, Jankuloska, Janakieski, Protugjer and five other defendants pleaded guilty.

Several individuals were indicted in the case, including fugitive former PM Nikola Gruevski and former officials Kiril Bozhinovski, Mile Janakieski, Gordana Jankuloska, Biljana Brishkoska Boshkovski, Ilija Dimovski, Munir Pepikj, Edmond Temelko, Kiril Todorovski, etc.

They were suspected of criminal association, violation of voting rights, violation of the freedom of choice, election bribes, destruction of election materials, and abuse of election campaign funds.

Photo: MIA archive