Skopje, 26 March 2025 (MIA) – The Government will suspend the procedure for the dismissal of Chief Prosecutor Ljupcho Kocevski, even if it receives an opinion from the Council of Public Prosecutors, i.e. it will not forward it to the Parliament, Government Spokesperson Marija Miteva said on Wednesday. 

Asked whether the Government will send a communication to the Council of Public Prosecutors stating that the dismissal procedure is being suspended or will wait for it to make a statement, Miteva said that the Council of Public Prosecutors will act in accordance with deadlines.

"The Government's decision to suspend the procedure refers to the part that the Government, after receiving an opinion, should forward such an opinion to the Parliament. Allow me to clarify that the Government will suspend the procedure, even if it receives an opinion from the Council of Public Prosecutors, i.e. it will not forward it to the Parliament, and of course the Council of Public Prosecutors will act in accordance with its deadlines," Miteva told reporters at Wednesday's press conference. 

The Council of Public Prosecutors was to review the Government’s motion for dismissal of the Chief Prosecutor of North Macedonia at a session earlier on Wednesday, but the session was postponed due to lack of quorum. 

Deadlines for reviewing the motion for Kocevski's dismissal are still ongoing, and the Council will need to consider the motion by next week at the latest. 

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Tuesday that the procedure for the dismissal of Chief Prosecutor Kocevski will be stopped at its current stage.

“Given the sensitive situation in society, we plan to stop the procedure at its current stage, as we believe the prosecutors working on the Kochani nightclub fire case should be allowed to continue and complete their work. When I said that we are satisfied, I could see that there was a coordinated effort between the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, leading to 34 people detained who are under suspicion of having any connection to this case,” Mickoski said.

On February 11, 2025, the Government decided to initiate procedures for the dismissal of Chief Prosecutor Kocevski. The Chief Prosecutor's term is six years, with Kocevski elected to the post in February 2024. In accordance with the Government’s conclusion, the Ministry of Justice took action and prepared an opinion regarding the proposed dismissal of the Chief Public Prosecutor.

The Ministry of Justice said that the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of North Macedonia acted in cases where legal provisions indicated circumstances that would raise doubts about his impartiality and conflict of interest, circumstances he should have known about and should have excluded himself from. Chief Prosecutor Kocevski denied the claim that he had acted unlawfully, stating that he adhered to the law and its deadlines.

Photo: MIA archive