The former prime minister of North Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, was sentenced to six years in prison in the first instance for abuse of office in the "Talir2" case. The former Secretary of the Government Kiril Božinovski was also found guilty, who received a suspended sentence, announced the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje.
Judge Daniela Aleksovska said that Gruevski and Božinovski enabled the legal entity DG "Beton" AD Skopje to build the headquarters of the political party VMRO-DPMNE, at a time when the company concluded public procurement contracts with state bodies and public institutions or companies, contrary to the Law on to political parties, the Law on Financing Political Parties and the Law on Obligations, the North Macedonian media reported.
She pointed out, how transmissions H1, that the evidence showed the court that the two defendants abused their official position. The judge pointed out that Gruevski and Božinovski only ostensibly created the image that the headquarters of the political party VMRO-DPMNE is being built according to the law, while the evidence indicates that it was done with illegal contracts and added that the equipment in the fitness center alone costs 65 thousand euros.
The judge told the public to judge for themselves whether the seven million euro facility can be pretended to be of public interest, or with all the non-standard dimensions and luxury equipment, it is much more than that.
The contracts concluded for the construction of this facility were completely annulled, and the headquarters and property benefits were confiscated.
Unlike the accused Nikola Gruevski, who was tried in absentia, the court had the opportunity to hear the defense of former Secretary General of the Government Kiril Božinovski, said judge Aleksovska Stojanovska, adding that Gruevski has been sentenced to two years in prison so far, while Božinovski has not been convicted.
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