Marichikj: Rule of law has won, pardons have no legal basis
Skopje, 16 February 2023 (MIA) - The rule of law has won, and the pardons have no legal basis, said Deputy PM for European Affairs and former justice minister Bojan Marichikj on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to declare as inadmissible the complaint regarding the annulled pardon of former president Gjorge Ivanov.
"I welcome today's decision of the European Court of Human Rights which is in favor of the state, and according to which the applicants' complaints in their entirety including the alleged pardons are inadmissible. Under the decision, the Court considers that the complaints are inadmissible in principle because domestic legal remedies were not exhausted, and there's no violation of human rights," Marichikj posted on Facebook.
The Deputy PM adds that proceedings continue before the domestic courts, because it is illegitimate to bypass the Macedonian courts.
"The European Court may have been used in this case as a tool to delay the proceedings, but the rule of law is an inviolable principle," said Marichikj.
It is extremely important, he underlines, to implement justice as citizens expect, which will be noted positively in the reports of the European Commission in terms of respecting the rule of law in North Macedonia.
He expressed gratitude for the expertise and commitment of the legal team fand for the success in the representation before the European Court of Human Rights.
ECHR has rejected the complaint over the 2016 annulled pardon of former president Gjorge Ivanov as unfounded. The court's decision is available at this link.
The pardon included 56 suspects and sentenced persons in multiple cases of the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO), including former PM Nikola Gruevski, former ministers Mile Janakieski and Gordana Jankuloska, former secret police chief Sasho Mijalkov and other government officials.
Back in April 2016, the Constitutional Court cancelled the 2009 changes to the law, thus giving the President the option to give pardon without carrying out the pardoning procedure. Right after the Constitutional Court decision, then-president Ivanov decided to pardon the VMRO-DPMNE officials, which resulted in a public outcry and mass protests. Afterwards, the Law on Pardoning was amended and the pardons were annulled.
