The Appeal Court is reviewing the appeal of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) following the detention request for Ejup Aljimi, DUI’s chief co-ordinator who is charged in the Titanic 3 case for allegedly destroying election material.
The SPO demanded custody of Aljimi, but the Basic Court Skopje 1 – Skopje, as in all other cases, rejected the request as unfounded. In the reasoning of the SPO, it was stated that Ejup Aljimi could influence witnesses, but the court did not accept this because it did not arise from the statements of the witnesses that he poses a threat to them, after which he was put under ‘precautionary measures’.
The SPO accuses Aljimi that with his fellow party member, Ismet Guri, he was present at all times in the Municipal Election Commission in the Skopje municipality of Cair during the elections in 2014, which, due to the function he had, could seriously affect the members of the commission. However, this is more in the realm of hearsay and no factual evidence was presented by the SPO.
SPO prosecutor Fatime Fetai told the Appeals Court today that the first-instance court did not consider the evidence presented.
According to Fetai, the allegations of Ali and Guri were listed in the special circumstances, and from the statements of two witnesses heard during the proceedings it resulted that they feared for their personal safety. The first instance court could determine another measure when it had not already determined the detention, which is a prohibition of contact with certain persons, according to the SPO.
But the bigger question here is the obvious one: are these the first major cracks in the coalition between DUI and SDS? The SPO had so far not touched DUI, despite major evidence of wrongdoing by the mayors of Gostivar and Tetovo, both high ranking DUI officials.
News portals controlled by DUI in the past several weeks reported on SDS officials splurging thousands of euros of taxpayers money at local restaurants. This was both unexpected and an obvious dig by DUI aimed at the SDS. However, we didn’t wait too long for the response. Was the SPO case against a mid-level DUI official more of a warning to DUI by Jess Baily to play ball?
DUI has zero control in the new Government, have been completely sidelined nearly at all levels. Western foreign ambassadors continue to meet with Zaev (34 times) and give wind to SDS to continue on path with dismantling the country.
As irony would have it, DUI can put an end to Zaev and the puppet Government by quitting the coalition. But don’t hold your breath, Ahmeti was heavily compensated to stay in. Having said this, the cracks in the coalition are obvious.
