VMRO‑DPMNE says prosecutors shielded Venko Filipche over Tetovo modular hospital fire
The opposition party says the probe opened after the 8 September blaze was dormant for years and accuses Prosecutor Abazi of clearing former minister Venko Filipche.
VMRO‑DPMNE accused the public prosecution of shielding Venko Filipche in the investigation into the fire at the modular hospital in Tetovo, saying the probe was opened shortly after the blaze but then shelved for years. The party also alleged that Prosecutor Abazi is completing the job as a pawn of SDSM and DUI by clearing the former health minister.
According to VMRO‑DPMNE, the criminal case linked to the fire that occurred on 8 September was registered on 10 September 2021 and subsequently remained inactive for an extended period. The party says the file, which covers the network of 19 modular hospitals established during the COVID crisis, passed through the offices of Vilma Ruskovska and Elizabeta Josifovska from the Special Public Prosecutor's Office (SJO) before arriving at a third prosecutor.
Party outlines legal and administrative failings
VMRO‑DPMNE points to regulatory changes made before the modular units were installed as the basis for holding Filipche responsible. The Building Law was amended so that modular hospitals were classified as "urban equipment," and authority to approve their placement was transferred to the Ministry of Health — and thus to the sitting minister at the time, Venko Filipche.
The party further claims the modular structures were never entered in the cadastre, lacked a government decision for permanent use and did not have an occupancy permit under the Rulebook on space, equipment and staff. VMRO‑DPMNE says documentation on these shortcomings existed in the project unit of the Ministry of Health and was handed to the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime on 12.12.2023.
VMRO‑DPMNE reiterated that 14 people lost their lives in the Tetovo modular hospital and called the handling of the case a sign of political protection for those it considers responsible. The party demanded that investigators reopen and properly pursue all leads connected to the installations and the regulatory changes that governed them.
Photo: press material from the event
