Skopje, 15 July 2025 (MIA) - Six members of the Grchec criminal ring, who were arrested in January 2024, have been sentenced to a total of 50 and a half years in prison.   

The Court found Fadil Bajramovski, Sevdi Aziri, Nexhati Iseni and Besim Asani guilty of the crime "unauthorized production and distribution of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors" under Article 215, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code.

Bajramovski, Aziri and Iseni were sentenced to five years in prison, while Asani was sentenced to six years in prison.

The Court found the other two guilty of committing the crimes of "criminal association" under Article 394, paragraph 3, and "murder" under Article 123, paragraph 2, item 5 of the Criminal Code.

The Court sentenced Fati Sulejmanovski to a prison sentence of one year and six months for the crime of "criminal association", and 14 years in prison for the crime of "murder". 

The Court sentenced Shulejb Sulejmanovski to two years in prison for the crime of "criminal association" and 14 years in prison for the crime of "murder". 

The group did not act incidentally but continuously, from June 2019 to March 2021 at least, and the investigation included 15 people, some of whom are now deceased, and others are still unavailable to law enforcement.  

Delivering the verdict, judge Fanka Janchulova Mihailovska said the circumstance of the existence of a criminal ring is confirmed by a continuous repetition and organization of procurement of narcotic drugs, and another circumstance is the use of the same Porsche Cayenne vehicle when purchasing drugs from Albania and then from Belgium.

"Fadil Bajramovski was clearly aware, communicated and arranged drug handover and transfer via the Sky app, while defendant Besim Asani is not a person who accidentally transferred the drugs, but was clearly aware of it and stayed in Belgium for a month and a half. Analysing the Sky app communication about the procurement of drugs from Albania, it is clear that the Kosovar is the defendant Sevdi Aziri who transferred the drugs from Albania," said Janchulova Mihailovska.

From June 2019 to March 2021, Shevalj Muaremi and other people unavailable to law enforcement have set up and led a group for transport and unauthorized distribution of drugs in Macedonia. The group had arranged purchase of 14 kilograms of cocaine from Albania at a price of EUR 33,000 per kilogram and then organized transport through Kosovo to Macedonia.

Delivering the verdict, the Court said the murder was part of a larger criminal plan to kill people who were considered an obstruction to the group, which is confirmed by the fact that the victim was rationally and consciously chosen.

"They had consciously decided and stuck to the decision for the double murder, which is a characteristic of the criminal group. From the Sky app communication, it is a fact that the victim was rationally and consciously chosen, and so is the purchase of a gun with a silencer, bulletproof vests and flashers for a car. The communication clearly shows that the double murder is related to the shoot-out with the criminal group Dukjandzhik in Aleksandar Palace. Given the above, at least three people participated in the double murder, regardless of whether Fati or Shulejb shot or just drove the vehicle," the judge said. 

The defense reacted to some of the evidence provided via the Sky app, but the Court said it had accepted it because it was obtained with international legal assistance from France. 

The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption opened an investigation against 15 people in January 2024, and in July 2024, it filed an indictment with the Skopje-based Criminal Court against five people. The prosecution, through the Ministry of Justice, has undertaken all necessary activities in accordance with the Law on International Assistance in Criminal Matters regarding four people who are unavailable to law enforcement. Thus, extradition documents have been submitted for two people to the United Arab Emirates, for one person to the Republic of Croatia, and for one person to the Spanish authorities. Extradition procedures are conducted in accordance with the procedural laws of the countries in which the suspects are located, and the investigative procedure for them, as well as for the other suspects, will continue once they are available to law enforcement.

Photo: MIA