Skopje, 26 April 2023 (MIA) - The Skopje-based Appellate Court passed a decision on Wednesday  rejecting as unfounded the appeal of the defendant, heart surgeon Zhan Mitrev and his private hospital, and approved a proposal on temporary measures by the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office Skopje against the accused.

"The Court's Council decided that the first-instance court has acted correctly when accepting the proposal of the Prosecutor's Office on temporary measures against the defendants - a ban on encumbrance and disposal of the real estate specified in the ruling of the decision, as well as a ban on the payment of the amounts specified in the ruling of the appealed decision from the accounts of the legal entity for the amounts regarding which the measure was set, establishing that all legal conditions have been met," said the Appellate Court in a press release. 

Heart Surgeon Mitrev and his private hospital Zhan Mitrev Clinic are on trial for criminal charges of fraud under Article 247 of the Criminal Code.

He is charged with concealing key facts regarding hemofiltration and misleading patients by withholding information on the possible risks of complications arising from the blood filtration method so he could make illegal profits.

Last July, the government tasked the Ministry of Health with investigating the allegations against Mitrev and his hospital after an Investigative Reporting Lab documentary stirred great public outrage. Health authorities were to carefully review all information related to the IRL documentary on Skopje's Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital broadcast on the National Radio Television on July 17, 2022. 

The Public Prosecutor's Office also launched an investigation into the work of the hospital and Mitrev himself after the national broadcaster aired the IRL's "Bad Blood."