VMRO-DPMNE: SDSM is exploiting the Kocani tragedy for political gain
Party accuses SDSM of double standards and calls for equal, non-selective justice while blaming Venko Filipche for the Tetovo modular hospital deaths.
VMRO-DPMNE sharply criticised SDSM on Thursday, accusing the ruling party of politicising the investigation into the Kocani incident and of applying double standards in cases connected to the pandemic-era modular hospitals.
The party’s statement came after SDSM spokesperson Bogdanka Kuzeska held a press conference where she warned that “Justice for Kocani is melting before the eyes of the public.” Kuzeska demanded full, non-selective accountability for everyone who allowed, enabled or concealed unlawful conduct in the case.
VMRO-DPMNE response
In its reaction, VMRO-DPMNE said that SDSM “has no moral credibility to lecture about responsibility and justice, while there are no responsible persons and no one answers for the tragedy in the modular hospital in Tetovo, in which 14 people lost their lives.” The party added that SDSM operates with double standards and alleged that the party’s leader was effectively granted amnesty over the modular hospital case through a corrupt judiciary staffed by judges and prosecutors the party says were selected in Zajas and Strumica.
The statement also quoted VMRO-DPMNE directly: “Venko Filipche, as the then-minister of health, bears political responsibility for the system in whose time the tragedy happened. Responsibility for every omission, every contract and every decision must exist, while Filipche enormously enriched himself and profited during the crisis.”
VMRO-DPMNE called on SDSM to stop “exploiting the Kocani tragedy for daily political points and to stop the double standards,” and demanded an end to what it called partisan influence in the judiciary by appointees of SDSM and DUI, whom the party accuses of protecting crimes by SDSM, Zaev, Filipche and others close to the Zaev clan.
At the same conference, Kuzeska repeated that justice for Kocani must not be diluted or delayed and insisted on a thorough and impartial process. The SDSM remarks also included an accusation that Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski is keeping the judiciary under control and protecting his allies, leaving victims and families without answers and without justice.
Photo: press material from the event
