Skopje, 12 May 2023 (MIA) — Zhan Mitrev's fraud trial was again adjourned at the request of the defense.

"The defense needs to receive all the evidence on the Public Prosecutor's Office's list in the same form as it was submitted by the public prosecutor," Mitrev's lawyer said, adding that they needed to be given "the elementary right to prepare by postponing this hearing."

Mitrev's defense also requested from the Criminal Court to be given 20 working days to go over the prosecution's evidence and 10 working days to prepare its case.

After a long discussion, the public prosecutor did not object to the request, and the court scheduled the next hearing for June 13.

The initial hearing in Mitrev's fraud case was scheduled for Feb. 28. It was adjourned because the defendant had hired new lawyers.

The next hearing was scheduled for April 5. It was adjourned after the defense said they had not been able to review case files that were still at the Appellate Court.  

Mitrev is 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 national broadcaster aired "Bad Blood," an Investigative Reporting Lab documentary on Skopje's Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital. The film stirred great public outrage and prompted the Public Prosecutor's Office to launch an investigation into the work of the hospital and Mitrev himself.

The documentary claimed that the private hospital, which was charging patients exorbitant prices for Covid-19 treatment, used a blood filtration method as part of a clinical study not reported to or approved by the national Agency for Medicines and Medical Equipment.

On their website, the IRL team said they had received numerous complaints by citizens – including a report of charges being filed against the hospital and its staff on behalf of a patient who died from sepsis at the hospital.

According to IRL, COVID-19 patients, without knowing they were the subject of a clinical trial, were offered blood filtration as the only cure for the virus and were charged thousands of euros for it.

In addition, the hospital never reported any hospital-acquired infections to the Center for Public Health despite their legal obligation to do so. In the documentary, patients' families claimed hospital-acquired infections caused their loved ones to die.

Judge Lidija Petrovska is presiding over Mitrev's fraud trial and the prosecution is led by public prosecutor Iskra Hadzhi Vasileva. mr/