OSCE presents second interim report on work of Special Prosecutor’s Office in Skopje

SKOPJE, 12 June 2019 – The OSCE Mission to Skopje presented today the second interim report on the activities and cases of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), resulting from the Mission’s trial monitoring observations.

The report covers 20 cases in which the SPO filed indictments by its statutory deadline of 30 June 2017, and follows the first interim report, published in August 2018.

“We hope that the findings and recommendations enshrined in this report will be a helpful tool at the disposal of the actors involved in the accountability process of the crimes revealed by the intercepts, as well as in the hands of the actors involved in the judicial reform process,” said Ambassador Clemens Koja, Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

“Given the key role of the SPO in re-establishing accountability, it is of utmost importance that the SPO continues pursuing those responsible in a professional and independent manner,” added Koja.

Special Public Prosecutor Katica Janeva said: “The OSCE Mission to Skopje’s report, which provides an overview of the course of the trials of cases that fall under our jurisdiction, once again shows our great devotion and persistence to exhibit a substantial amount of evidence in support of the charges brought. It also demonstrates our willingness to raise the fair trial standards, aimed at tackling impunity, promoting greater accountability and upholding the rule of law in North Macedonia.”

The report, available online here, is part of a project financed through extra-budgetary contributions provided by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.