Minister Spasovski Cannot Request Detention for Suspects or Accused Persons

By Мери Јордановска 0
Фото: Принтскрин

The Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski in the statement says “the Ministry of Interior is requesting detention because the conditions for such a request are met”. He utters this regarding the arson in front of the front door of the cultural center “Vančo Mihajlov”. The Ministry is not an institution that can request detention for a particular suspect. The Ministry of Interior can only file criminal charges with the prosecution and this is where its competence ends. Furthermore, the case is taken over by the prosecution, and the final decision is made by the court

 

 

After it was determined that the famous Macedonian pop singer Lambe Alabakovski set fire to the front door of the cultural center “Vančo Mihajlov” on Saturday morning (June 4, 2022) in Bitola the event caused a stormy public reaction due to the dispute between Macedonia and Bulgaria. The Minister of Interior, Oliver Spasovski, addressing a press conference, stated that “the Ministry of Interior will request detention for the perpetrator.”

Late last night, a search was conducted in the home and in other homes where the perpetrator lives, clothes and other items related to the crime were found. This means that we have irrefutable evidence. The person has been detained at the police station and at the moment we expect him to be brought before a judge in a preliminary procedure in the Bitola Basic Court. The Ministry of Interior is requesting detention because the conditions for such a request have been met, said Spasovski.

[Source: Facebook – MIA; Date: 07.06.2022; minute 4.20-5.50]

 

EXPLANATION:

The Minister of Interior, Spasovski said in a statement that “the Ministry of Interior is requesting detention because the conditions for such a request have been met.” The Ministry is not an institution that can request detention for a particular suspect or accused person. The Ministry of Interior can only file criminal charges with the prosecution and this is where its competence ends. Furthermore, the case is taken over by the prosecution, and the final decision is made by the court.

According to the Law on Criminal Procedure, only public prosecutors have the right to submit a proposal for detention. This proposal is usually submitted as part of the request for conducting an investigation in which the circumstances arising from the reasonable suspicion that the accused person is a perpetrator of the crime must be indicated. In the proposal for detention, the prosecutor should state the legal grounds due to which they consider it necessary to apply the proposed measure and explain them individually. The proposal for the measure of detention is submitted to the court, i.e. to the judge of the preliminary procedure, who decides whether to accept it or reject it.

This means that the Ministry of Interior has no competence in submitting a request for detention, nor do they have any competence in deciding on the application of this measure.

Several lawyers also reacted to Spasovski’s statement. Lawyer Janaki Mitrovski said the minister should be miles away from the thought of seeking custody.

He has no competencies as a minister and this cannot be perceived in any other way, except as direct political pressure, says Mitrovski.

The lawyer Saško Dukoski wrote a similar reaction on his Facebook profile.

Based on which valid legal regulation the Minister says that the Ministry of Interior will request detention for the perpetrator, and continues “we believe (they believed) that all legal conditions for detention were met!” When I last saw the Law on Criminal Procedure, and I see it quite often, it is imperative that detention be ordered at the request of a public prosecutor. What does the police have to do with ordering detention? Under what provision would they request detention? They will file criminal charges and this is where their work ends. Therefore, there is no need for a public prosecutor and a judge, let the Ministry of Interior rule immediately. And the verdict to become final immediately!

The prosecution requested that Alabakovski be detained for eight days because of the possibility and danger of fleeing, as he had lived in the United States until recently. There will be a trial soon, as the prosecution has filed an indictment for causing general danger, which carries a sentence of six months to five years in prison. For crimes up to 5 years in prison, a prosecution proposal is filed, not an indictment. In the prosecution proposal, all deadlines are short, the procedures are economical, hence the court decision for Alabakovski will be pronounced quickly.

All this means that from the hands of the Ministry of Interior, the cases pass into the hands of the public prosecutor’s offices and the courts. That is why there is a division of power, legislative, executive and judicial, and each of them has specific goals and objectives. The aim is to prevent any of the authorities from abusing power. Therefore, the Minister of Interior, Oliver Spasovski, should not even allude to whether a certain suspect or accused person should be remanded in custody, and at least state that he requests that Alabakovski be remanded in custody. Due to the above facts, we consider his statement inconsistent.

 

 

SOURCES:

 

 

Assessed by: Meri Jordanovska

 

This article has been produced within the project Fact-Checking the Progress of North Macedonia towards the EU, implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation. The article, originally published by Truthmeter,, is made possible by the support of the American non-profit foundation NED (National Endowment for Democracy). The content of this article is the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Metamorphosis, NED or their partners.

 

 

 

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