Skopje, 10 December 2024 (MIA) - Corruption, in whatever form it takes, should not be tolerated in this country. Those who undermine the rule of law for personal gain and at the expense of the people of North Macedonia should come to understand that corruption has consequences. While the United States will continue to hold corrupt actors accountable, it is my hope that the judiciary and law enforcement structures of this country do the same, the citizens of this country deserve no less, said United States Ambassador Angela Aggeler at a press conference Tuesday regarding the designations of former deputy prime minister Artan Grubi and Appellate Court judge Enver Bexheti for significant corruption.

The Ambassador said the evidence for the decision isn’t being shared with Macedonian authorities due to “privacy considerations” but stressed that it is readily available.

“But nor do we need to [share it]. The evidence that Washington was reviewing, that we were able to gather both here and in Washington, was readily available. I find it interesting that some of the criticism I saw on social media against us, the United States, for these designations, was why do you do this when there’s no prosecution and there’s no action here. Because we have no law enforcement or judicial structure in this country, we are required by law to designate and sanction those individuals for whom we have strong evidence of criminal corruption. What happens from there is up to law enforcement and the judiciary in this country. But I will say, if we can put together the evidence, so can they,” Aggeler said.

Aggeler said the designations would continue. She noted that corruption is an epidemic and a cancer of society.

“Everywhere that I go around this country, and every citizen that I talk to, people tell me this is such a problem in their daily lives and to please talk about it more, because it affects the citizens of this country every single day. And this is why it was important that we designate individuals who have engaged in criminal corruption regardless of their role,” she said.

The Ambassador stressed that justice is blind, noting that they simply examine the individual and the evidence.

“The question about how these cases move through the process here is one that I ask as well. If the evidence is available, and it is, you have financial investigative units, you have financial police, prosecutors, judges, there is a process available here, and I think that the people of this country want to see it happen,” Aggeler said. 

Photo: MIA Archive