Prosecutors: no evidence of unauthorized access to the president’s office computer system

The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption found no evidence that the computer system in the office of President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova was accessed or used to collect classified material, and closed the pre-investigation for lack of basis to pursue criminal charges.

Forensic checks found configuration weaknesses but no proof of intrusion

According to the prosecutor's announcement, computer equipment seized under a court order was subjected to forensic analysis and data from mobile devices were examined. The Sector for Computer Crime at the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out the technical examinations and reported that analysts found no digital traces or forensic indicators of unauthorized penetration, nor evidence of recorded or illicitly gathered classified information.

Investigators did identify certain security and administrative misconfigurations in the system that represented potential risks, but there was no evidence these shortcomings were exploited to commit the alleged offences.

After reviewing all collected materials, the public prosecutor concluded that the legal elements of offences such as revealing a state secret, damage and unauthorized access to a computer system — and of any other offence prosecutable ex officio — were not met, and issued a resolution denying further prosecutorial action.

The office recalled that on May 20 it had announced the opening of a pre-investigation that followed a notification from the Ministry of Internal Affairs about suspected extraction of contents from the presidential office's information system at the end of last year. The Ministry told prosecutors it had issued two orders to the Sector for Computer Crime, dated February 12 and March 25 of this year, and warned that analysing a large volume of electronic evidence requires substantial time.

President Siljanovska-Davkova has repeatedly declined to comment publicly on the probe. She has, however, confirmed that a member of her staff was suspended, internal checks took place and the incident was reported to police. On that subject she said: "The accusation of espionage is very serious and I believe there is no logical basis for it."

Photo: press material from the event