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High-level corruption cases in the Western Balkans and Turkey

Illegal influence in the election process (known as the Titanic 2 case) - High-level corruption cases in the Western Balkans and Turkey

Illegal influence in the election process (known as the Titanic 2 case)

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Introduction

In November 2017, the Basic Court in Skopje approved the indictment for six defendants, but the charges were dropped against five judges serving in the Administrative Court. The SPO charged Saso Mijalkov, who was then chief of the intelligence agency, of making a deal with Menduh Thaci, president of the DPA political party, to influence the decisions of members of the State Election Commission at the time (namely Bedredin Ibraimi, Sasho Srcev, Aneta Stefanovska and Vlatko Sajkovski), so that local elections in the town of Strumica would be annulled and repeated.

Country
North Macedonia
Sector
Elections
Offence
Abuse of official position or authority
Phase
2nd instance procedure

Description of the case

On 29 June 2017, the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) brought an indictment against 11 suspects for election fraud in 2013.

In November 2017, the Basic Court in Skopje approved the indictment for six defendants, but the charges were dropped against five judges serving in the Administrative Court. The SPO charged Saso Mijalkov, who was then chief of the intelligence agency, of making a deal with Menduh Thaci, president of the DPA political party, to influence the decisions of members of the State Election Commission at the time (namely Bedredin Ibraimi, Sasho Srcev, Aneta Stefanovska and Vlatko Sajkovski), so that local elections in the town of Strumica would be annulled and repeated.

On 8 March 2019, the Basic Court in Skopje brought a first-instance verdict that sentenced Saso Mijalkov to three years in prison, Menduh Thaci to three years and two months in prison, Bedredin Ibrahimi to four-and-a-half years in prison, and Aneta Stefanovska, Vlatko Sajkovski and Saso Srcev to three years in prison.

On 23 December 2019, the Skopje Court of Appeal set aside the verdicts against Mijalkov, Thaci, Ibrahimi and the three former members of the State Election Commission from the VMRO-DPMNE party. The case was remanded for retrial at the direction of the Skopje Court of Appeal on the basis of substantive violations of procedure committed by the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje.

The overturned verdicts in the case indicate signs of state capture and point to shortcomings in the judicial system.

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