Disciplinary Commission revokes sanction on Jove Cvetanovski — he may apply for organized crime prosecutor

The Disciplinary Commission that had previously imposed a sanction on prosecutor Jove Cvetanovski revoked that measure at an urgent meeting held during the still-unfinished summer recess, clearing a procedural obstacle to his candidacy for the post of Public Prosecutor for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption, the position currently held by Islam Abazi whose mandate is expiring.

At the same time, as a senior prosecutor Cvetanovski issued an opinion to reopen the previously halted investigation into heavy fuel oil at the Negotino thermal power plant — an inquiry in which the Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office had not found damage to the state budget — following repeated public calls from Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski and daily press appearances by the ruling VMRO-DPMNE.

Disciplinary bar removed; indictment still pending

Under disciplinary rules, a prosecutor subject to a disciplinary sanction is barred from applying for a promotion or a new position. With the measure lifted, Cvetanovski registered for the open competition, but an outstanding criminal charge pending before the Basic Court Shtip remains unresolved and continues to block final clearance.

Explaining the reversal, the Disciplinary Commission pointed to guidance from the Council of Public Prosecutors. In a written reply the commission said: "The Commission for determining disciplinary responsibility of a public prosecutor in the exercise of the public prosecutor function, based on the guidelines received from the Council of Public Prosecutors in appellate procedure and taking into account the evidence, by majority vote made a decision that did not establish disciplinary responsibility against the public prosecutor against whom proceedings were conducted."

The office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of North Macedonia, Nenad Saveski, confirmed that it will not lodge an appeal against the commission's decision. From his cabinet they answered: "The decision has been delivered to the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of North Macedonia and he will not file an appeal, taking into account the argumentation presented in the reasoning of the decision."

That sequence — the commission relying on guidance from the Council and Saveski on the commission's reasoning — effectively removed the procedural obstacle for Cvetanovski, who has applied in the selection procedure that closes on Monday.

The criminal charge against Cvetanovski is joined in the same case with Mustafa Hajrullahi and has been awaiting assessment by the Basic Court Shtip for about a year. "A complaint once arrived at the Appellate Court Shtip after the judge at the Basic Court Shtip refused to separate or dismiss pieces of evidence from the indictment. We confirmed her decision. The case was returned to the same judge and she made the same decision. Again a complaint arrived at the Shtip Appellate Court from one of the accused, on 20 August. We immediately sent the case for opinion to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Shtip and we have not had a reply for 15 days. As soon as the opinion arrives, we will decide and the indictment will be able to go for assessment at the Basic Court Shtip," Appellate Court Shtip President Toni Delev told us.

On 9 September last year the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office Shtip filed an indictment against Hajrullahi and an indictment proposal against Cvetanovski. After a full investigative procedure and secured evidence, the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office Shtip charged Hajrullahi with five criminal offenses — Maltreatment in the performance of duty under Article 143, and Abuse of Official Position and Authority under Article 353(1) of the Criminal Code.

During the investigation the prosecutor also collected evidence concerning the official conduct of Hajrullahi and Cvetanovski, and therefore filed an indictment proposal charging them as co-perpetrators with a continued criminal offense of Abuse of Official Position and Authority under Article 353(1) of the Criminal Code.

"The accused, in the time period from January 2023 to August 2024, at the Public Prosecutor's Office Skopje, together contrary to the Rulebook on internal work of public prosecutor's offices, retained written submissions which, after being opened, had been handed to them by the authorised public prosecutor administrative officer for receipt; the first accused Hajrullahi kept them and asked that they not be registered the same day or in order, but to be registered several days later and with a different date than the date of receipt. At the same time he demanded of the staff that those files be assigned directly to the second accused Cvetanovski “without much noise”," reads the indictment proposal.

The indictment further alleges that in handling the specified cases the accused did not perform their official duties in accordance with Article 7 of the Law on the Public Prosecutor's Office — that is, they performed the function of public prosecutor unlawfully, with bias and subjectivity, disregarding and without protecting the freedoms and rights of citizens and other legal entities, acting beyond their authorities with the intention of enabling another person to gain material benefit, thereby seriously injuring the rights of parties in several proceedings.

Photo: СДК.МК)