Vlen: Which prosecutor offered Grubi a plea deal?

The Vlen party says questions are mounting about attempts to close the State Lottery case against former deputy prime minister Artan Grubi through a plea deal, after the first court hearing was held yesterday.

Grubi and six others appeared in court on charges tied to abuses at the State Lottery valued at €8.2 million; the prosecution says it will present 231 pieces of material evidence and call seven witnesses. One defendant, former Lottery director Prparim Bajrami, was not in the dock — authorities say he is at large.

Quoting its own sources, Vlen alleges that Grubi was urged to reach an agreement with the prosecution — to admit guilt in exchange for a much lighter sanction — in return for abandoning his ambitions to lead the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).

“Ali Ahmeti assessed that the trial is very risky, because Grubi’s temperament is such that he can, through the media, erode DUI’s rating. Grubi had already scheduled interviews because he had been assured there would be no indictment, and then he was unpleasantly surprised. The extension of the house-arrest measure is additional pressure to force a plea deal before the trial begins,” the party statement said.

Vlen also pointed to the composition of defence teams in the case, saying that the lawyers for most of the accused are “the judicial players from the era of Gruevski and Mijalkov.” “This is a serious signal that DUI has lowered its guard and is playing with all weapons,” the party added.

Who else is charged

Alongside Artan Grubi, the accused include former government cabinet secretary Metodija Dimovski and former members of the State Lottery supervisory board: Skender Mehmeti, Bojan Manev, Fatmir Ramadanovski, Aleksandar Dimitriovski and Bashkim Avdi. Prparim Bajrami remains absent.

The start of the main hearing was delayed after the defence lawyer for one defendant, Bojan Janev, requested access to the case files to prepare his defence. Vlen also questioned why Grubi’s principal collaborator, Prparim Bajrami, was not secured for the hearing and asked whether the reclassification of the charges sends another message from Ali Ahmeti to the party’s inner circles. The statement added that Vice President Bijar Osmani was not pleased after certain international addresses read the strategy behind the briefings, and warned that hard days may lie ahead for what they called the party’s “mafia political bureau.”

Photo: press material from the event