Skopje, 22 February 2024 (MIA) - Sasho Mijalkov, Goran Grujevski, and Toni Jakimovski, indicted in the ‘Treasury’ case, were acquitted Thursday related to the misuse of funds from the state budget for the purchase of electronic and communication equipment for the needs of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK) from a company in the United Kingdom.

The case against the defendant Nebojsha Stajkovikj has been dismissed due to absolute statute of limitations.

According to judge Imrane Selmani, who pronounced the acquittal today, the defendants are acquitted because the public prosecutor did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed the offense they are accused of.

At today's hearing, the judge explained that in the retrial, the prosecution amended the indictment, charging the defendants with abuse of official position and authority, but by another count, instead of the abuse of official position, they are now being charged with exceeding their official authority.

This is the second verdict in the case, following the Skopje Appellate Court acceptance of the defendants’ appeals and the overturning of the initial verdict issued in 2021.

In the initial verdict, former UBK chief Sasho Mijalkov was sentenced to 8-year prison term for multiple counts of 'abuse of official position and authority.' Former chief of the Fifth Department at the Ministry of Interior, Goran Grujevski, who was tried in absentia, was sentenced to 15-year prison term.

Former Assistant Interior Minister, Nebojsha Stajkovikj, and the former head of Mijalkov’s office Toni Jakimovski were sentenced to five years in prison each.

The trial is being presided over by judge Imrane Selmani, with prosecutor Artan Ajro representing the prosecution.

Фото: МИА