Supreme Court annuls convictions of Stevcho Jakimovski, sends case back for retrial

The Supreme Court annulled the convictions against former Karpoš mayor Stevcho Jakimovski and sent the case back to the first‑instance court for a new trial and decision.

Decision and procedural next steps

The Court quashed the judgment of the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje dated 23 April 2025 and the judgment of the Appellate Court in Skopje dated 15 May 2026. The request for extraordinary review was filed on Jakimovski’s behalf by his lawyer, Viktor Svetkovski of Kumanovo, and was accepted by the Supreme Court’s panel for criminal offences.

At the first instance trial in April 2025 Jakimovski was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with construction of the Karpoš municipal administrative building. The Basic Criminal Court convicted him of two offences: illegal construction and abuse of office. The court imposed one year for the illegal construction charge and three years for the abuse of office charge.

On appeal, the Appellate Court in May 2026 confirmed the one‑year sentence related to the illegal construction but upheld Jakimovski’s appeal concerning the abuse of office count and returned that part of the case for retrial. After the illegal‑construction part became final, Jakimovski received a written order to report to serve his sentence at the Skopje prison and voluntarily went to prison.

With the Supreme Court’s new ruling both the first‑instance judgment of 23 April 2025 and the appellate decision of 15 May 2026 have been set aside. The entire file now goes back to the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje to be reheard and decided again.

Jakimovski remains the central figure in the proceedings; the court’s move resets the legal course and opens the possibility of a new examination of evidence and charges at first instance.

Photo: Принтскрин