In April 2022, the Secretary general of the Republic of North Macedonia Muhamed Zekiri was arrested following investigations into him and two other suspects. Zekiri was accused of abusing his official position and authority by concluding two consulting contracts – worth nearly €1 million – without abiding by public procurement procedures. In December 2023, Zekiri was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Following an appeal, the verdict was overturned in September 2024 and the case sent back for a retrial.

Following investigations by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on 8 April 2022, the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption launched an investigation into Zekiri and two Croatian citizens. The prosecution also proposed detention measures for the three suspects.

The prosecutor’s office suspected that Zekiri, without following proper procurement procedures, signed a consulting services contract with a company owned by the Croatian accomplices. This resulted in a fee of 57,932,100 denars (€932,684)[1] for the consulting company, an amount which exceeded the agreed-upon consulting fee of €795,000.

Acting on the prosecutor’s proposal, the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje ordered the pre-trial detention of Zekiri, while the whereabouts of the two Croatian citizens remained unknown. Zekiri promptly resigned as secretary general of the government. The next day, he was placed in custody for a 30-day detention period.

As the case became public, Interholding DOO was revealed to be the consulting company involved, while the other suspects were Croatian businessmen Danijel Ivanagić and Denis Fudurić. Ivanagić was the manager and minority partner of Interholding, while Fudurić was its majority owner through his company Interfinance DOO. Interholding had been contracted by North Macedonia’s government to prepare a feasibility study related to the possible sale [SK1] [GU2] of the Post of North Macedonia. [KK3] [TB4] This study was presented to government ministers and the post. It also appeared that the North Macedonia government was the firm’s sole client.

On top of all this, according to the Central Registry, Interholding was established just 20 days before the fconclusion of the incriminating contract. Data from the Open Finances database also showed that between May and December 2021, the government transferred a total of 58 million denars (€942,000) to this company.

On 30 June 2022, after two extensions of his detention, Zekiri was transferred [KK5] to house arrest for health reasons.

In August 2022, the prosecutor’s office announced that the investigation into Zekiri had expanded to include another consulting contract. According to the prosecution, Zekiri had concluded a contract with another company regarding the potential privatization of a state-run railway enterprise, again violating public procurement rules. Allegedly, on 23 June 2021, a consulting services contract was valued at €772,400 excluding VAT. Initially, North Macedonia’s government paid an advance of 11,284,162 denars (€181,897) when the project was launched. Subsequently, the company received four additional payments totalling 26,247,138 denars (approximately €378,000). Through his actions, Zekiri obtained illegal profits for the two companies – Interholding and Interfinance – totalling 89,385,255 denars (over €1.4 million) which corresponds to the loss incurred by the North Macedonian budget.

The details of both alleged crimes were outlined in the prosecution’s indictment submitted on 4 October 2022.

On 1 November 2022, the Basic Criminal Court of Skopje approved the indictment against Zekiri in its entirety and initiated a criminal case. Meanwhile, the investigation into the Croatian suspects was suspended as the police were unable to trace them. The trial against Zekiri began on 15 December 2022. Zekiri pleaded not guilty.

In September 2023, controversial amendments to the article on abuse of official position and authority in the Criminal Code reduced penalties and removed a key paragraph related to public procurement crimes and damage to the state budget. Following these changes, Zekiri's case was reclassified. The prosecutor’s office announced the trial would proceed under an abbreviated process, with a single judge assigned to the case. Consequently, Zekiri's detention was also revoked on 24 October 2023, with precautionary measures put in place instead.

On 1 December 2023, the Basic Court issued a first-instance verdict, sentencing Zekiri to two and a half years in prison. He was also ordered to compensate the state with €1,150,000 within six months from the judgment's entry into force.

Following the verdict, Zekiri reiterated that he had only implemented the government's plans. He also stated that legal experts in the government reviewed the contracts, and at no point did they advise him not to sign them.

In September 2024, the Skopje Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and sent the case back to the first-instance court for a retrial.

Zekiri is the second Secretary General in North Macedonia accused of abusing his public position for personal profit (see here).