Skopje, 12 May 2023 (MIA) - After we receive the verdict within the legal term, we will file an appeal. I hope that the Skopje-based Appellate, which is competent to decide on the appeal, will make a correct and legal decision, said public prosecutor Stevcho Donchev after the acquittal in the 'Tenders' trial earlier on Friday. 

After the Skopje-based Criminal Court acquitted former Minister of Culture Elizabeta Kancheska Milevska, who was the principal defendant in the case related to the tender for the construction of the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, as part of the Skopje 2014 project, as well as defendants Julijana Ugrinovska and Lidija Lazarova Cvetkovska, members of the Public Procurement Commission, the prosecutor said that since the procedure has not yet been legally concluded, he would not comment on the details of the case at this point, and all remarks on the verdict, he added, will be noted in the appeal. 

"If you followed the trials closely, there was a presentation of evidence at the beginning of the proceedings. The recordings specifically tell what happened in detail. The court gave such an analysis, but, I would say, in this procedure, I will not comment on everything that we will note in the appeal," he said. 

According to the defense attorney of the defendant Elizabeta Kancheska Milevska, Sasho Dukovski, no court can pass a different verdict other than an acquittal in this trial.

"I am firmly convinced that, considering the facts presented in this procedure, first and foremost, the expert opinion and all other material and verbal evidence, no court can pass a verdict other than an acquittal," he said. 

He added it was regrettable that the defendants without any fault were subject to a six-year court procedure with security measures.

According to the charges, before the publishing of an announcement for a public procurement contract and a procedure, Kancheska Milevska held talks with Director General of Shtip-based construction company Beton, ordering that construction works continue on the Museum contrary to the Law on Public Procurement.

The process was led by Judge Osman Shabani, while the prosecution was represented by public prosecutor Stevcho Donchev.

Photo: MIA archive