Skopje, 6 August 2024 (MIA) – Criminal liability of the Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi has not been established according to the evidence provided, Minister of Interior Panche Toshkovski said commenting on the incident at the Skopje Airport involving Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani, where the Speaker sent his security personnel.

Minister Toshkovski noted that the only criminal liability according to the evidence rests on the police officer, who is part of Speaker Gashi's security detail.  

"According to the internal rules and procedures of the Ministry of Interior, he had no right to leave the VIP facility where he was assigned to provide security, and it was neither his decision nor authority to defuse or inflame the situation, or do anything that is not part of the description of his work tasks. The entire criminal liability rests on the police officer," the Minister told Kanal 5 on Tuesday.  

He added that more than 15 or 20 people who witnessed the incident have been quizzed, and video surveillance footage has been reviewed.

In connection with this case, the police filed criminal charges against S.S., head of the Parliament Speaker's security detail, due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that he committed the crime of "threatening security".  

The Ministry of Interior said that S.S. was sent to the Skopje International Airport by the Parliament Speaker, he arrived at the airport’s VIP terminal, rehearsed a gun and got into a conflict with members of the airport police.

According to the press release, together with two other police officers from the Department for Security of Persons, S.S. then entered the VIP terminal in unauthorized area and started threatening the lives of employees of TAV-Skopje, police officers from the border police and the Department for the Protection of Certain Persons and Objects, demanding to escort Kosovo's President in a vehicle to the plane.

"The Department for Internal Control, Criminal Investigations and Professional Standards, in accordance with its competences and powers, will submit a proposal for launching a procedure over disciplinary responsibility against the police officer S.S. and will impose mandatory measures for removal from the workplace - suspension until the completion of the disciplinary procedure, whereas against the police officers S.R. and N.B. it will submit a proposal for launching a procedure over violation of work order and discipline due to the execution of an illegal order, negligent performance of work tasks and damage to the reputation of the police," said the Ministry of Interior.

SDSM called on Mickoski on Tuesday to immediately dismiss Gashi as Parliament Speaker, while the Levica parliamentary group initiated a no-confidence motion against Speaker Gashi for "unprincipled" conduct in office. 

Photo: MIA archive