Dismissed Appellate Judge Gjoko Ristov will receive his September salary

The Judicial Council decided at its 557th session on 30 September 2026 to dismiss Appellate Judge Gjoko Ristov from his judicial office, a member of the Council confirmed. The move means Ristov will receive his full September salary despite being in pre-trial detention since 18 January 2026 and not attending work because he is under indictment.

Until now Ristov had been suspended and removed from his workplace, but he had not been formally dismissed from the bench.

Council statement and the defence reaction

In a statement posted on the Judicial Council’s website the decision was linked to official grounds: "Because of unprofessional and negligent performance of judicial duties, a judge is dismissed from the performance of the judicial function," the text reads, without naming the person involved.

Ristov’s wife posted on her Facebook profile that the Council’s decision did not surprise her and accused members of having been pressured into voting to dismiss him.

The criminal trial against the judge, in whose family house in Negotino prosecutors say they found €350,000 hidden inside a wall, began on 28 May at the Criminal Court in Skopje and is still in the evidentiary phase. Prosecutors say evidence gathered since the investigation began supports charges of unlawful enrichment and concealment of assets under the criminal code.

Investigators say they discovered the hiding place in the family house on 18 January after noticing a different sound when tapping and a wrongly glued tile in the kitchen. The large stack of euro banknotes was uncovered after attorney Fehmi Stafa was caught taking €50,000; in the investigation he reportedly said that the money was for Ristov.

The indictment alleges that from 10 February 2020, while serving as a judge at the Appellate Court of Skopje, Ristov provided false information about his assets and failed to report property that far exceeded his legally declared income. Prosecutors also say the evidence indicates elements of money laundering under Article 273 of the Criminal Code. Members of the Judicial Council noted past cases in which detained officials continued to draw salaries for long periods; the article referenced the former Bitola mayor Vladimir Taleski in the “Transporter” case and said that, during an inspection at the Appellate Court of Skopje, it was found that the now-dismissed judge Enver Bedzeti had kept that case in a drawer for over 2.5 years while the accused received pay from the Bitola Theatre.

Photo: SDK.MK)