Skopje, 22 September 2023 (MIA) - In response to reporters' questions after the first panel discussion at Friday's conference on women and youth empowerment in the fight against corruption, prosecutor Lenche Ristovska said she sees the latest amendments to the Criminal Code as an insult to all professionals who have committed to the fight against corruption. 

According to Ristovska, these changes will most often affect corrupt acts, while large number of acts, for which lots of resources and energy was invested, are already getting time-barred.

She added that whatever changes that might exempt someone from criminal responsibility, do not exempt responsibility from property benefit, i.e. confiscation remains in force.

The prosecutor noted that confiscating is "barely alive," and its implementation in problem areas requires better inter-institutional cooperation, and even political will to amend legal solutions. 

"Amendments to the Criminal Code affect the culture of impunity, which has somehow been protected in the past years. And the Prosecutor's Office, in my opinion, is faced with a thankless and difficult task. On the other hand, our resources are not the best, and conditions have not improved. Many cases in which we have invested lots of resources and energy are becoming time-barred. At least for the cases I handle, we are in a process of analyzing to see possible implication of the Criminal Code amendments. However, I personally see the amendments themselves as an insult to all professionals that have invested themselves in the fight against corruption," said Ristoska. 

Regarding the cases and their statute of limitations, she noted that they will take action to get the most out in terms of liability.

"I can only speak from my perspective and what would I do, we will make sure to get the most out in terms of liability in all the cases. I am talking about the cases already on trial. Ongoing investigations and those not yet on trial, of course those investigations will include additional segments. For the cases that are already on trial, yes, prequalification will be needed, to get the most out of the situation. And here I would like to emphasize, let's not forget that any amendments that might exempt someone from criminal responsibility, that do not take away from the liability of property benefit, will remain in force. The least we can do is, in court cases where we have the opportunity, to fight for confiscation," the Prosecutor stressed.

There are also issues, she added, with adjudication of confiscation.

"I understand that we also have issues with the adjudication of confiscation. But, I emphasize the responsibility of the Prosecutor's Office to do whatever they can to make sure properties continue to be confiscated, properties for state benefit, and the implementation itself where problems are detected; I believe that we need better inter-institutional cooperation, even political will to change some legal solutions for the confiscation process to prosper. Yes, I agree, it is half alive at the moment," Ristoska noted. ssh/nn/

Photo: MIA