Perparim Bajrami in court — State Lottery trial resumes in Skopje

Trial proceedings in the State Lottery case resume today at the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje, after the first accused, Perparim Bajrami — the lottery's former director — handed himself over to investigators last week.

Bajrami had been the subject of an international arrest warrant after leaving the country. On September 9 he surrendered at the Blace border crossing and was transferred to the detention facility in Skopje to serve pretrial custody that had already been imposed.

Defendants and charges

Alongside Bajrami, the indictment names former Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi, Metodija Dimevski, Skender Mehmeti, Bojan Janev, Fatmir Ramadanovski, Aleksandar Dimitrioski and Bashkim Avdiu as defendants. Prosecutors Daniel Kocev and Aleksandar Davchevski say the case concerns actions in 2023 and 2024 that exceeded official powers and caused damage to the State Lottery totaling 596,125,511 denars.

The first hearing, held last week, saw all present defendants enter pleas of not guilty. Bajrami was not available at that session because he was abroad. At that hearing Bashkim Avdiu said, "he does not understand the charge brought against him and asked for it to be delivered in writing in his mother tongue, Albanian," and requested an Albanian-language copy of the indictment.

Today's session is expected to address evidentiary steps and procedural matters now that Bajrami has been returned to custody. Prosecutors will continue to present their case, while defence teams for the accused will have the opportunity to respond to the indictment and to seek procedural rulings from the court.

The proceedings are being followed closely because of the high-profile nature of the accused and the size of the alleged financial damage to the State Lottery.

Photo: press material from the event