Markovski in Serbia, defense: not on the run — his passport was returned
Markovski left the country via Tabanovce after the passport was returned; the defense says he has urgent business meetings in Serbia and will return on Saturday.
Borche Markovski, a businessman from Bitola and the honorary consul of Belarus in the country, is in Serbia but is not considered to be on the run, his lawyer says. Markovski left the country via the Tabanovce border crossing after the Struga Court returned his passport, which had previously been confiscated as a precautionary measure.
Markovski and seven other people are accused in a case related to a public procurement for the relocation of power units from the Oslomej Thermal Power Plant to REK Bitola. The procurement contract amounts to around €1.7 million; the prosecution states that the equipment was dismantled in Kichevo, brought to Bitola and left unassembled within the REK Bitola compound.
Lawyer Marjan Nikoloski explains that his client went to the Republic of Serbia for business obligations — he owns and runs a company there — and that he will return to the country over the coming weekend. He says: "He has a serious company in Serbia. Without him it cannot function. Today and tomorrow he has difficult meetings. On Saturday he will be in Macedonia. So this is not a case of flight. He has posted a guarantee. After all, he does not even feel guilty. We want the trial to begin and to finish quickly because we believe we will prove his innocence. The units were dismantled, lifted, transported and fully installed, fitted and assembled at a location designated by the responsible persons at REK Bitola," says Nikoloski.
Key procedural decisions
The state prosecution announced that at the moment the accused cannot be considered to be on the run and that he is obliged to appear before the court. The competent public prosecutor from the Struga Prosecutor's Office on 15 June issued a negative opinion on lifting the additional precautionary measures; the defense appealed and the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Bitola issued a positive opinion for the return of the passport. The statement says: "As arguments for this decision, the Higher Public Prosecutor states that with the set guarantee the circumstances that indicate a danger of flight by the accused are excluded. At the same time, the arguments of the defense are accepted that the accused owns a company in the Republic of Serbia whose operation would be seriously jeopardized and there is a possibility of irreparable damage if he does not travel there as soon as possible to sign documentation related to the company's operation."
The lawyer emphasizes that Markovski has security against the danger of flight — a pledge on real estate valued at €5 million. According to the defense, the return of the passport is justified in order to avoid irreparable damage to the company in Serbia, which cannot operate without his personal presence.
The president of the Struga Court, Vulnet Vinca, who chaired the criminal council that made the decision to return the passport, is retiring — the Judicial Council rejected his request to extend his judicial tenure. The prosecution announces that it will check all aspects and arguments that led to the decision to return the passport, while the case moves toward trial.
Photo: Makedonec / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
