Appellate Court in Skopje upholds acquittal of Nikola Gruevski in 'Talir 2'

The Appellate Court in Skopje has rejected the appeal filed by the Skopje Basic Public Prosecutor's Office and upheld the acquittal of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski in the case known as "Talir 2." The court reached its decision after a closed session held on 26 August this year, during which the case files were reviewed.

The court's ruling took into account a proposal from the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Skopje and concludes that the prosecution's appeal was unfounded.

Reasoning cited by the court

"In acting and deciding, the court assessed that the actions undertaken by the accused N. G. from S., as a responsible person in the legal entity, were within his authorities and that the Skopje Basic Public Prosecutor's Office did not present evidence that the accused's conduct was contrary to the Law on Financing of Political Parties. During the proceedings, the Skopje Basic Public Prosecutor's Office, as the authorized plaintiff, did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that GP 'Beton' had the status of an entity that at the time of signing the contracts with the political party performed public services within the meaning of the aforementioned law, so there was no legal prohibition on donations from it to the political party nor an obligation of the accused as a responsible person of the political party to return those funds," the Appellate Court said in its statement.

The court added that the full text of its decision will be published on the court's website in accordance with the Law on Courts and the rules governing case movement in the judiciary, and that the public will be notified when the document becomes available.

On 14 July this year the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje acquitted the former prime minister Nikola Gruevski in the "Talir 2" case of charges of exceeding official powers and of unlawful financing related to the construction of VMRO-DPMNE's party headquarters.

Photo: press material from the event