The leader of the Social Democrats (SDSM) Zoran Zaev is not going to appear in front of the Criminal court in Skopje on September 7 when the start of the proceedings of the “Putsch” case was scheduled, said for Meta the spokesperson of SDSM Petre Shilegov.
There is no backing down from the position which was made clear earlier- commented in brief Shilegov.
The leader of the opposition said at a press conference in early July, that he does not recognize and is not going to respect the court’s decision for the “Putsch” case. Zaev announced then that he will not respect the measure by the court that requires him to call the court each Monday. He added that he will not attend the case’s hearings.
He also made the statement that because of his decisions, the court can produce a warrant for his arrest.
The start of the main hearing for “Putsch” was scheduled for August 5 but was postponed because Zoran Zaev did not appear in the court. He is the fourth suspect in this case.
SDSM considers that this case, as well as the investigation of the evidence based on the recorded conversations in the phone tapping affair, should be subject to the Special public prosecutor. The four biggest parties are in the process of negotiating that prosecutor during the Przhino Agreement meetings.
In this context, on June 5, Zaev’s lawyer Filip Medarski, told the court that it should give a longer time frame for the start of the trial, because “in the meantime the Przhino Agreement was signed and according to this, the case will be transferred to the special public prosecutor.”
However, to this, the person who is presiding over the Court’s council, Judge Ljubinka Bashevska, replied that “they don’t work according to any contracts, rather, they work according to the Law.”
The court then announced that it will send a new summons for Zaev to report to the scheduled hearing. If the leader of the opposition doesn’t attend, the court will release a warrant for his possible arrest.
In the “Putsch” case, the suspects besides Zaev are the former head of the Directorate for Security of Classified Information (UBK) Zoran Verushevski, his spouse Sonja Verushevska, clerk in the Municipality of Strumica Branko Palifrov and an employee of the Ministry of Interior Georgi Lazarevski. These four are charged for the criminal acts of spying, illegal wire-tapping and recording of sound, and violence against representatives of the highest state bodies.
