Skopje, 18 October 2023 (MIA) - This is a case that weaved through the court labyrinths for five years, the Appellate Court unreasonably kept it for nine months and we were aware that the risk of an expired statute of limitations when the Appellate Court sent the case for retrial last year, said Deputy PM for Good Governance Policies Slavica Grkovska on Wednesday regarding yesterday's decision of the Criminal Court to stop proceedings in the Target-Fortress case related to the unlawful wiretapping due to the recent Criminal Code amendments.

Deputy PM Grkovska said she expressed reserves over the Criminal Code amendments due to such "possible consequences of adopting such solutions".

"I have expressed my disappointment over the inefficiency of the judiciary. If you recall, my reaction was rather strong back then, resulting in two judges held accountable for unreasonably keeping the case for nine months. Due to this behavior within the judiciary, we also witnessed back in March another case hearing being delayed by the judge a few days after the expiration of the statute of limitations, involving the same defendant," Grkovska told reporters.

She expressed belief there is still enough time to complete cases of the now-defunct Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) through efficient proceedings.

"I urge judicial authorities to demonstrate responsibility because there is still time, after so many years, to complete the SPO cases through efficient proceedings. In this way, the judiciary will show it is applying the law, regardless of the person involved. I repeat - they should not be bigger politicians than politicians themselves," said Grkovska.

She added that concrete activities were undertaken to "overcome certain aspects" that have led to the low trust in the judiciary.

"There was progress, but after everything that happened with the Judicial Council and the loss of its credibility, even this progress became irrelevant," noted Grkovska.

Photo: MIA