Four prosecutors enter race to replace Islam Abazi at organised‑crime office

Four prosecutors have submitted candidacies to the Council of Public Prosecutors to succeed Islam Abazi as head of the Office for Prosecution of Organised Crime and Corruption, and the application deadline runs out this weekend, Council president Bashkim Besimi confirmed. Postal applications will be accepted until Monday.

On the list so far are Lidija Raichevic, a prosecutor at the Skopje office; Iskra Hadzi Vasileva and Faton Azizi, both from the GOCCK team; and Jove Cvetanoski from the higher public prosecution. Their dossiers will be reviewed by the council ahead of the internal vote scheduled for October 28, when prosecutors will choose a new head by direct ballot.

Controversies around one candidate

Cvetanoski has recently been at the centre of controversy: he proposed to appellate judges that they confirm the acquittal of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski in the Talir 2 case and he also "revived" the Mazut case for which the prosecutor's office had previously closed the investigation. Earlier this year the Council lifted his disciplinary sanction and suspension and returned the case to the disciplinary commission for re-decision.

Prosecutors in Shtip filed an indictment against Cvetanoski for alleged abuse of official position over case distribution; the document has been pending evaluation for more than a year. He is accused alongside his former superior Mustafa Hajrullahu, and the matter has been shuttled between the Basic Court in Shtip and the Appellate Court in Shtip. Court records show defence requests to exclude certain evidence were first rejected by the basic court, later upheld by a higher court, then again rejected by the basic court, prompting a fresh appeal. According to Toni Delev, after receiving the file on 20 August the court forwarded it to the Skopje basic public prosecution for opinion and has not yet received a reply.

Cvetanoski says the disciplinary commission has now issued an acquittal decision and found no disciplinary responsibility for him. He adds: "The indictment is not legally binding and is not an obstacle. That indictment was made on the basis of the disciplinary case and it is known why it was made," and argued the accusation will not prevent his candidacy.

The other candidates bring different prosecutorial records. Raichevic previously ran for state prosecutor and has handled high-profile files including the murder of Pino Sekondo, the Rover case against Ljube Boskovski, and cases connected to Jean Mitrev. Hadzi Vasileva is known for the case against judge Gjoko Ristov and earlier led parts of the Mitrev file before her authorisations were removed, as well as the Oriental case. Azizi is linked to investigations labelled Additive, FFM and Botox, and to the probe into former DKSK chair Tatjana Dimitrovska.

Islam Abazi, the current head of the office, recently announced he will not seek a new mandate. With the competition now set, prosecutors will cast their votes in direct elections on October 28.

Photo: press material from the event