SDSM: Judiciary under full control of the government; Mickoski acts as judge and prosecutor

The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) accused the government of VMRO‑DPMNE of having placed the country’s judicial system under full political control, saying party leaders — and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski personally — have interfered in prosecutions and court decisions.

Natasha Popovic outlines alleged patterns of interference

At a press briefing SDSM executive board member Natasha Popovic said the ruling party has over the past two and a half years captured the police, the Agency for National Security and brought prosecutors and courts under direct command.

Popovic said: "They changed the public prosecutor, the wife of a former VMRO mayor was chosen for the Judicial Council, and a prosecutor linked to Sasho Mijalkov was appointed. Mickoski publicly assigned tasks to prosecutors and judges from the parliamentary podium, via television and by phone. The European Commission in its latest report clearly notes interference in the judiciary and the prosecution, absence of reforms, widespread corruption and problematic public procurements. There is no system. Hristijan Mickoski is both prosecutor and judge, on whom decisions depend."

SDSM also said the country lacks functioning mechanisms of accountability. The party's anticorruption team has identified a series of unresolved tenders and scandals totaling more than 200 million euros, the opposition said.

The party listed examples they regard as selective justice: the shielding of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski from responsibility; the return of alleged criminally acquired property to the ruling party; overnight dismissal of criminal complaints against government officials; the halting of bribery proceedings against a person close to the government's general secretary; the release of the prime minister's bodyguard after an assault on a woman; and the absence of political and institutional responsibility for the transport of five tons of drugs to Serbia.

Popovic added: "Criminal charges against Mickoski and government officials are dismissed overnight. Complaints linked to the poisoning of water in Gostivar sit in the prosecution with no answer and no accountability. When government officials have companies in Bulgaria and Bulgarian passports — institutions remain silent. When ministers of the Government praise Ratko Mladic, a convicted war criminal for genocide — the government and institutions remain silent."

SDSM urged renewed pressure for judicial reform and for institutions to investigate the cases it listed, saying only restored independence of prosecutors and courts can re-establish public trust.

Photo: press material from the event