Instead of the beginning of the trial of the former head of the Fifth Administration, Goran Grujovski and six of his fellow defendants in the case “Fortress 2”, today’s hearing turned out to be a procedural dispute between prosecutors from the SPO, the court and the defense, on whether classified evidence should be used in the hearing or whether it should be declassified.
At today’s hearing, alongwith the prime suspect in the case, Goran Grujovski, the other defendants were present, except one of them.
The next hearing has been scheduled for January 17, next year.
After three hours of debate, discussion and objections, Judge Lidija Petrovski obliged the SPO to obtain permission from the body that submitted the classified information which is evidence in the case, namely, they have been ordered to obtain permission from UBK to declassify the evidence.
SPO prosecutors, Trajče Pelivanov and Lence Ristoska reacted to the decision, and invoked provisions of the Classified Information Act and the Law on Criminal Procedure.
Nikola Dodevski, Grujovski’s defense lawyer, during today’s debate asked the court to reject the classified evidence offered by the SPO, claiming the evidence can not be used in judicial proceedings because the SPO had submitted it without obtaining permission from UBK.
