Skopje, 5 April 2023 (MIA) ― The fraud trial of heart surgeon Zhan Mitrev and his private hospital was again adjourned on Wednesday, after Mitrev's lawyers said they had not been able to review case files that were still at the Appellate Court. 

 

The court previously granted the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office to freeze the assets of the private hospital. Mitrev's defense lawyers appealed the ruling.

 

Prosecutor Iskra Hadzhi Vasileva asked the court to schedule the hearings closer together so the case would gain momentum. The defense asked for at least two months to review the case files.

 

The next hearing has been scheduled for May 12.

 

As Mitrev was leaving the premises, protesters in front of the Criminal Court shouted "Justice!", "Murderer!" and "Why are you running away?" 

 

The dozen of protesters said they were relatives of people who died from complications of unapproved blood filtration treatment for Covid-19 at the Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital. 

 

Holding banners saying "Profiteering from the Sick" and "We Want Justice," they told the press they would gather there during the entire trial, "no matter how many times it is adjourned." 

 

They also said they were not giving up on seeking justice for their loved ones. One protester demanded that the new health minister and his predecessors be held accountable, as well.

 

"Let me say this to the new Minister of Health: 'What about the committees his predecessor formed? Where are their findings? What did those committees do?'," she asked. 

 

"Former minister [Venko] Filipche, too, should have been here with Mr. Zhan Mitrev today. The investigation needs to be expanded. He is not the only culprit. Who allowed him and his doctors to treat Covid with unapproved therapy?"

 

Demanding to know why Mitrev's hospital was still allowed to offer hemofiltration, they said all their relatives' final hospital discharge records were exactly the same, the only exception being the deceased patient's initials.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital said in a press release that the protest was a "call to lynching over baseless accusations."

 

The release said the "people holding banners on the day of the hearing, the date and time of which was not publicly announced" showed that the protest was "organized and led according to someone's agenda."

 

The hospital suggested that the protest was aimed at "creating an atmosphere as if everything has already been decided" and "subverting justice and taking away the right to prove [Mitrev's] innocence and the truth."

 

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 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." 

 

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. 

 

“After we discovered that COVID-19 patients, without knowing they were the subject of a clinical trial, were offered hemofiltration (blood filtration) as the only cure for the virus and were charged thousands of euros for it, the prosecution will be looking into the testimonies of the victims’ families regarding the malpractice they encountered at Zhan Mitrev Clinic,” the IRL said. 

 

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. mr/