Skopje, 7 January 2024 (MIA) — In the prosecution's appeal to the Criminal Council of the Skopje Criminal Court, the public prosecutor has explained in detail why the judge's decision not to issue a detention order against suspects in the M-NAV case is unfounded, the Public Prosecutor's Office said Sunday.

"The prosecution has obtained and presented all the [required] evidence that the four arrested suspects pose a true flight risk," the PPO said. It added that the suspects also posed a risk of influencing witnesses (including the injured party as well as the suspects still unavailable to law authorities) and repeating the crime.

Regarding the charges under Article 303 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code, the PPO said the criteria of endangering air traffic safety had been met because the actions of the defendants had created the real possibility of endangerment, regardless of whether "a catastrophic dangerous consequence in terms of severe injury, death or destruction" had actually occurred.

Earlier on Sunday, the Skopje Criminal Court issued a press release saying it had decided to impose precautionary measures against four of the eight persons suspected of endangering air traffic safety by breaking in and attacking staff of the national air navigation service provider M-NAV instead of ordering detention for the suspects as requested by the prosecution because the evidence was not enough to detain the suspects.

In the release, sent in response to public outcry and aimed at "dismissing unfounded speculations" while also "taking care to preserve the confidentiality of the investigation," the court said it decided cases solely based on evidence submitted by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Interior Ministry and based on judicial autonomy.

The provided evidence was insufficient to determine that the suspects should be prosecuted on the proposed indictment, the release noted.

Also, whereas there was no doubt a felony had been committed and that the suspects needed to be available to the prosecution, the Criminal Court said, an investigation had been ordered against eight people and detention was requested for only four of them.

The Criminal Court then cited Article 303 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code under which the suspects had been charged with endangering air traffic safety.

Article 303 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code says: "Whosoever commits an act which endangers or may endanger the safety of an international airport by using a device, substance or weapon, illegally and with the intention to commit an act of violence against a person at an international airport which results or may result in serious injury or death, or to destroy or damage devices, facilities or an aircraft which is not in flight, but is located at an international airport, or to hinder the international airport services, shall be sentenced to at least five years of imprisonment."

Considering the evidence in the specific case, the Criminal Court said, "at this moment it does not appear that the suspects had fully met the criteria for the crime, that is, that their actions could 'result in serious injury or death, or to destroy or damage devices, facilities or an aircraft which is not in flight, but is located at an international airport'."

The release pointed out that no medical record had been submitted detailing any serious injuries and the injured party had not been questioned by the prosecution nor had filed a complaint with the law enforcement authorities.

Also, the Criminal Court said in its release, the evidence did not include specifics regarding how the suspects' actions resulted or could have resulted in serious injury or death, or the destruction or damage to devices, facilities or an aircraft located at an international airport.

In addition, according to Civil Aviation Agency director Tomislav Tuntev, inspectors had found no violation or threat to air traffic safety and no air traffic safety incident report had been filed, the release added.

However, the Criminal Court said, the investigation into the Jan. 4 incident should continue, which is why the judge had ordered precautionary measures requiring the suspects to appear in court when summoned. According to the court order, their passports were also to be seized, they were prohibited from leaving their place of residence as well as from communicating with the injured party or between themselves.

The PPO's appeal to the decision, the Criminal Court added, would be considered by the Criminal Council, which can confirm or change the court order.

The precautionary measures were ordered on Jan. 5 against four people who had been interrogated by the police after the attack on M-NAV staff on Jan. 4. One of the suspects is Bekim Neziri, a former government minister, current advisor to a M-NAV executive director, and member of DUI.

Together with another four people, they were suspected of threatening the security of the Skopje International Airport on Jan. 4, when they broke into the premises with the intention of committing an act of violence against a person and obstructed air traffic services.

The search for the other four continues.

Meanwhile, the government said that at its next session, scheduled for Jan. 9, it would discuss dismissing all M-NAV managers and management board members. mr/