Skopje, 10 October 2023 (MIA) – In his testimony at Tuesday’s session of the Inquiry Committee on the Oncology Clinic case, Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski said the Ministry of Interior has looked into the work of the Clinic on multiple occasions since 2012 due to suspicions of abuse.

The Interior Minister said the Ministry’s first reaction came on May 31, 2012, when it filed a report against the head of the Clinic at the time over suspicions of abuse regarding the procurement of cytostatic drugs, adding that the Public Prosecutor’s Office never launched an investigation.

“The second report was filed on June 2, 2022, by the head of the Clinic against one individual suspected of participating in illegal activities, and the complete official material – official notes, conversations with witnesses etc., have been delivered to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to my information, only now have they taken measures to file an indictment. And the third case, is the procedure which we are leading right now, on August 31, 2023, when the Economic Crime and Corruption Department at the Ministry submitted a report to the Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Skopje, in order to present all information we have in terms of the Oncology Clinic,” said Spasovski.

The Interior Minister stated that besides the criminal investigation, around seven people from the Clinic are currently subject to financial investigations.

Former Health Minister Bekim Sali testified at the session earlier in the day, saying he wasn’t contacted by the Prosecutor’s Office nor the Interior Ministry over the case, and he found out about it through the media. Sali added that he wasn’t informed the Oncology Clinic possessed an automated drug management system for the cytostatics which makes any manipulation with the drugs impossible.

He noted that while he was Health Minister, he asked the former head of the Clinic, Nino Vasev, to resign due to “ineffective management” after he failed to prepare a requested report on the work of the Clinic.

Following the testimonies of the Interior Minister and the former Health Minister, the chair of the Committee, Rashela Mizrahi, adjourned the session until further notice.

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