CORRUPTION BAROMETER FOR MAY 2024
Transparency International Macedonia continues to carry out its regular monthly activities for monitoring cases and activities related to corrupt behavior and the fight against corruption, which we’ve named “Light & Dark”
The monitoring of these cases has received significant attention, both in the public sphere and among domestic and foreign institutions, and over time, it has evolved into a relevant alternative barometer for measuring corruption and assessing the government’s willingness to address this issue.
“DARK” OCCURRENCES FOR MAY 2024
Supreme Court judge and member of the Prosecutorial Council under investigation for Bribery – An active Supreme Court judge has been arrested for accepting a bribe and a search was also carried out in the office of a member of the Prosecutorial Council due to connections with the same case. A preliminary procedure judge at the Basic Criminal Court Skopje has ordered 30 days of detention for Supreme Court judge Nake Georgiev, after he was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of 10,000 euros, i.e. for the offense of receiving a reward for unlawful influence. It is suspected that Idzet Memeti, together with Nake Georgiev used his position as a member of the Prosecutorial Council to seek bribes in exchange for lenient conditions for the former mayor of Municipality of Novo Selo, Boro Stojchev, known as “Boro Marlboro”.
The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption initiates accountability proceedings against the Director and the Board of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors – The Anti-Corruption Commission has announced that it is initiating proceedings with all relevant institutions to determine the accountability of the Director and the Board of the Academy of judges and public prosecutors due to violations of the Law on Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interest, as well as the Electoral Code. The responsible institutions have 60 days to review and act upon this initiative.
Indictment filed for the Distribution of Sports Vouchers against 12 individuals – The indictment proposal comes from the State Commission for Preventing Corruption, which announced last February that there were suspicions that the Director of the Agency for Youth and Sports and the members of the Central Commission for the allocation of Vouchers in 2020, 2021 and 2022 abused their official positions and unlawfully allocated funds, thereby damaging the state budget and denying the rightful recipients of these funds. Case “Sport Vouchers” – Mojsoski, Kaevski and Dimevski will appear in court but will keep their passports – Partial precautionary measures were imposed on the current and former directors of the Agency for Youth and Sports, Naumche Mojsoski and Darko Kaevski, as well as the head of the Macedonian Olympic Committee, Daniel Dimevski and nine other individuals accused of abuse in the awarding of sports vouchers. The Criminal Court ordered all 12 defendants to report once a week to a designated official in the court.
The Anti-Corruption Commission to the elected officials – The position of Prime Minister and Minister is incompatible with holding other public functions – the Constitution and laws should equally apply to all citizens of the state, including the current as well as former officials, which is why individuals holding the highest state functions and public authority are called upon to respect the principles of legality and integrity, the Anti-Corruption Commission announced. Additionally, this represents an offence for which, according to the law on the prevention of corruption and conflict of interest, a misdemeanor sanction is imposed.
State Audit Office: Inefficient Management and Administration of State – Owned Real Estate – The legal framework does not create conditions, and the activities of the competent institutions do not ensure the efficient management and administration of state-owned real estate, both residential and commercial, stated the State Audit Office, which conducted a performance audit on the topic “Management of State-Owned Real Estate” to answer the question “Do the competent institutions manage and administer state-owned real estate – business and residential properties – efficiently?” According to the State Audit Office’s statement, the audit concluded that the existing legal framework, measures, and activities taken by the Government and other competent institutions do not enable efficient management and administration of state-owned real estate – business and residential properties.
Poor treatment of Prisoners and Corruption Remain Issues in Macedonian Prisons, Appeals the Council of Europe – Improvements have been made in hygiene and cell conditions in Macedonia’s penal institutions, but the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police remains unchanged, and corruption among prison staff persist, according to the latest report by the European Committee for Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment under the Council of Europe. The report states that conditions are further deteriorated by widespread corruption and favoritism towards certain prisoners by the staff, undermining the proper functioning of the institutions.
“LIGHT” OCCURRENCES FOR MAY 2024
Criminal Charges Against Former Director of Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance and Two Others: They Damaged the State Budget by Over 614,000 Euros – As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, criminal charges have been filed against D.B. (45) from Tetovo, due to suspected criminal offenses of “Abuse of the procedure for public call, awarding a public procurement contract or public-private partnership” and “Abuse of official position and authority,” as well as against R.B. (72) and A.H. (40) from Tetovo, due to suspected involvement in “Aiding” under Article 24 in connection with the criminal offense “Abuse of the procedure for public call, awarding a public procurement contract or public-private partnership” under Article 275-v and “Abuse of official position and authority” under Article 353 of the Criminal Code.
Foreigners Report Two Police Officers for Bribery – Disciplinary Action Initiated – Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against two police officers after foreign nationals reported them for soliciting a bribe. The Department for Internal Control, Criminal Investigations, and Professional Standards within the Ministry of Internal Affairs acted upon a received report from a foreign national for the criminal offense of “Accepting a bribe” under Article 357 of the Criminal Code against two police officers from the Traffic Safety Unit of the Skopje Police Department.
Criminal Charges Against the Director of a High School in Delchevo – The External Office for Criminal Investigations Delchevo has filed criminal charges against D.C. (52) from Delchevo, the director of a high school, due to a suspected criminal offense of “Negligent performance of duties.” The accused, without conducting a transparent procedure for the procurement of goods and services, procured from several legal entities a total amount of 905,482 denars, whereas the Law on Public Procurement stipulates that the amount of procurements executed without conducting a public procurement procedure during the year must not exceed 12,000 euros in denar equal.
Corruption Barometer – May 2024
