Court staff in Kumanovo accuse President Snezana Manev of insults and harassment

Seventy-five of the 90 administrative employees at the Basic Court in Kumanovo have signed a formal complaint against the court president, Snezana Manev, alleging repeated personal and ethnic insults and other forms of harassment, the union representing court administration staff says. Union president Trpe Deanoski demanded Manev’s resignation at a press conference and called the behaviour “mobbing” of employees.

Union demands immediate action from the Judicial Council

According to the union, staff walked out during a break and stood in front of the court to show their dissatisfaction with working conditions and the internal atmosphere. The union says the alleged abuses include insults delivered in front of parties and citizens, and that the conduct is documented in the Judicial Council’s 2023 report, which found that the president of the Basic Court Kumanovo had “largely damaged interpersonal relations in the court.”

Deanoski told journalists that staff have repeatedly raised the matter with the Judicial Council and the Ministry of Justice but received no effective response. He said only two representatives from the Judicial Council visited to verify the authenticity of signatures, without taking steps to address the president’s conduct.

At the press conference Deanoski urged the Judicial Council to proceed immediately on the employees’ complaint, to protect administrative staff rather than shielding court presidents and judges, and to open proceedings for removal under the laws governing courts. He also called for an inquiry into how the court president could have been appointed without undergoing psychological testing, and warned that if the Council did not act within eight days, employees would begin protests and were prepared to shut the court down with a strike.

The court president was absent from work today. Her deputy, Nejzat Memeti, received reporters and handed over a written statement saying her absence was justified and that organisers of the protest were three people motivated by a disciplinary penalty imposed on a court administrator for negligence.

In her written reply, the president rejected the allegations as «completely incorrect and untrue», saying she manages the court in accordance with the Law on Courts, the Law on Judicial Service and the court’s internal rules. She wrote that the accusations of exerting pressure are unfounded and abstract because they do not cite a single specific incident or target. She added that staff shortages have forced a reorganisation and greater workload, and that some employees—backed by the court administrator—refused assigned tasks, used unplanned annual leave, prolonged sick leave or had unjustified absences, prompting complaints from court users. The statement ended with a firm remark that, as a judge and president of the court, she accepts nothing less than full commitment and “does not make compromises, period.”

The union says it will launch protests and a strike if the dispute is not resolved within eight days. (Reporter: S. Nikolic)

Photo: SDK.MK)