Skopje, 16 October 2024 (MIA) – Justice Minister Igor Filkov said Wednesday that the document containing the recommendations of the EU peer review mission report was taken by his predecessor, noting that a probe is under way to determine accountability.

“The Judicial Council and the Public Prosecutor’s Office must be freed from any type of political interference in order to serve only justice. These bodies will be reformed focusing on professionalism and strict honoring of rule of law. A major challenge in this regard is that the Justice Ministry doesn’t have the document containing the recommendations of the EU peer review mission report involving the Judicial Council. Even though the document is classified, it was taken by my predecessor and now the Ministry doesn’t have it,” Filkov told a news conference.

As a result, he said, we were forced to rely on electronic versions.

\Focusing on his first 100 days in office, Filkov said he had taken over the ministry without meeting with the former minister and with documents missing from the office. He said he inherited 956,000 denars in unpaid invoice after umbrellas, t-shirts, bags, mugs and other items, being purchased. Over 200 pieces by each product was bought and not paid.

“I found emptied financial resources. There were no records for the use of mobile phones, laptops and electric scooters by the providers, suggesting the predecessor treated the institution for his personal use,” Filkov said stressing that the functioning of the Justice Ministry was “devastated”.

Photo: printscreen/government

Video: government