State Lottery trial resumes in Skopje; Bajrami freed after property guarantee
Court heard testimony on VLT procurement; prosecution says eight defendants caused 596.1 million denars damage to AD "State Lottery".
The trial linked to the "State Lottery" case resumed today at the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje. Eight people are accused, including former first deputy prime minister Artan Grubi and former State Lottery director Perparim Bajrami.
Latest court developments
At the previous hearing, held on 30 October, former Board member Andrej Krstevski testified about how decisions were made at the institution and the procurement of VLT terminals. That testimony is part of the prosecution’s case about the alleged procurement irregularities.
On 3 November the court lifted the pretrial detention of Perparim Bajrami after accepting a property guarantee valued at over €1.14 million. Instead of detention, Bajrami was placed under precautionary measures that include surrendering his passport and regular reporting to the court.
The indictment states that the eight accused, by exceeding their official powers, caused damage to AD "State Lottery" in the amount of 596.1 million denars. All defendants have pleaded not guilty so far.
The prosecution in the case is represented by public prosecutors Daniel Kocev and Aleksandar Davchevski. The trial is being presided over by Judge Biljana Shuplinovska-Jovevski.
Photo: press material from the event
