Skopje, 11 January 2023 (MIA) – The Judicial Council report from the visit to the Skopje-based Appellate Court has found that judge Enver Bexheti tried new cases but kept the Target-Fortress case in the drawer.

Back in December, the Appellate Court annulled the Criminal Court ruling that resulted in the release of former secret police chief Sasho Mijalkov.

Judicial Council member Tanja Chacharova-Ilievska said there is no justification that the Appellate Court delayed the decision for nine months.

The report has concluded this is unreasonably long period for a decision-making process on an urgent case.

“We believe there are no elaborated reasons for the nine-month delay from the Court’s public session to the publishing of the decision. We believe that conditions are there for a possible expiration of the statute of limitations, which represents a serious violation. We have asked for an explanation from the judge, who said a large number of cases were distributed to him through the electronic case management system ACCMIS, especially high-profile ones, which we have confirmed. It is a fact that the judge met the monthly norm but found that only Target-Fortress was left aside from all cases that were distributed to him,” said Chacharova-Ilievska.

Council member Sashko Georgiev said the situation is impermissible, noting that a case cannot be left in a drawer for months due to sick leave or vacation.

“The report mentions sick leaves, absences, vacations, work on other cases, reduced number of judges, but these are judges who are obliged to observe the laws, since there are specific timeframes regarding the case. This is rather odd and impermissible,” he added.

In February 2021, the Skopje Criminal Court sentenced 11 people to a total of 65 years in prison, including 10 years in suspended sentences in the Target-Fortress trial, in which they were tried for their involvement in mass wiretapping and destruction of the equipment of the secret police.

The Court sentenced the former head of the secret police, Sasho Mijalkov, to 12 years in prison on three counts, including abuse of office.

The Court sentenced Goran Grujevski, former official of the intelligence service, and intelligence officer Nikola Boshkoski, to 15 years each. They were tried in absentia after fleeing to Greece.

Also, former interior minister Gordana Jankuloska was sentenced to four years in prison for abuse of office.

Eleven people were on trial, which began in December 2017.