Nikola Gruevski, Zoran Stavreski, Gordana Jankulovska, Saso Mijalkov, Martin Protoger and Mile Janakieski will be the first witnesses which the Inquiry Commission will listen to on the wire-tapping scandal. This was voted by committee members today, which should shed some light on the wire-tapping scandal.
Today the committee chairman, Petre Shilegov publicly called upon witnesses until Monday to declare from what day from the 9th to 15th of December they are available to come and testify, and announced that he would send a written invitation.
Interest in the work of this committee is large and also large for the public, and therefore envisaged commission meetings, even the testimonies, to be transferred through the parliamentary channel, except in cases which are considered classified information.
But after today’s meeting, it appeared that the members of the Inquiry Commission has been toying with the hope of the citizens. Once at the announcement for the first witnesses, Antonio Milososki, committee member of VMRO-DPMNE, said that their witnesses, the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Zoran Stavreski and Gordana Jankulovska will require hearings that will take place behind closed doors.
“Due to the confidentiality of the information which will be communicated at these sessions where the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the former Minister of Interior will be heard, they will be held behind closed doors. That does not mean we do not want the public to be informed about the details of the commission’s work, but the nature of what will be said requires it to be closed to the public”, Milososki said before the start of the session.
Most likely, such a request will be for the witnesses SDSM called Saso Mijalkov, Martin Protoger and Mile Janakieski.
“Unfortunately, the VMRO-DPMNE announced publicly that all members of their party which will be called as witnesses will not testify before the public eye. From this we can conclude that VMRO-DPMNE does not want to implement the Przhino Agreement, nor the Inquiry Commission to carry out the work as scheduled. Because not only the SDSM, but the public demanded that these sessions of this committee will be made open to the public. The choice of VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski is to hide in a hole. We can not understand why information like buying plots of Vodno, “Mercedes” worth 600,000 euros, electoral fraud would be classified as information. I feel sorry for them, but there is no way we can help them save them from themselves”, said Mr Shilegov after the meeting.
According to the rules of procedure of the committee, witnesses may request to testify in closed surroundings, but also you can ask members of the committee to change that by a majority vote.
Witnesses who will be called by the Inquiry Commission have no legal obligation to accept to testify. When asked what would happen if any of the witnesses decided not to take the stand, Shilegov said they would be left for the public to judge them. .
