Filipçe Calls on Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE to Apologize for Accusations over Modular Hospitals

Following the decision by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption to close the investigation into the procurement of modular hospitals, SDSM leader Venko Filipçe called on the prime minister and leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, to apologize to citizens for what he described as five years of spreading fake news.

The Prosecutor’s Office concluded that there were no grounds for suspecting abuse of official position or any other criminal offense in the procurement procedures for 19 modular hospitals. Consequently, the case was closed.

Filipçe said the Prosecutor’s Office’s finding proves that there had been no abuse of office or damage to the budget during his tenure.

“The Prosecutor’s Office clearly stated that there was no abuse of official position and no damage to the budget. This reflects all of my work, both at the clinic, where I acted in the interests of patients and without corruption, and in the other positions I have held, always in the interests of citizens and without causing harm to anyone,” he said.

The SDSM leader accused Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE of waging a campaign over the past five years that was, according to him, based on lies, insults and severe labeling.

“Mickoski and his organized criminal group, together with their chief PR adviser, Latas, needed a killer. For five years they called me a killer, compared me to killers and to Dr. Mengele. Imagine that—me, who saves lives and for whom the health of citizens is the first priority. They did not stop,” Filipçe said, adding that the campaign continued even after the Prosecutor’s Office’s decision.

The case concerning the modular hospitals was closed after five years of investigation, while the Prosecutor’s Office stated that there was no well-founded suspicion of abuse of official position or causing damage to the budget.

Meanwhile, during a visit to Prilep, Mickoski described as scandalous the decision by prosecutor Islam Abazi to terminate the proceedings concerning the modular hospital.

“Fourteen people were burned alive in the modular hospital in Tetovo. Unfortunately, the prosecutor who is leaving office decided to close the case. But the public should know that this is not a political amnesty, since new details may always emerge and the process may be reopened,” Mickoski said in response to journalists’ questions.

The investigation was launched in September 2021 at the initiative of the Prosecutor’s Office itself, with the aim of verifying procurement documentation and examining whether criminal liability existed.

During the proceedings, materials and data obtained from the government, the ministries of Interior, Finance, Labor and Social Policy, and Health, as well as from the Public Procurement Bureau and the Tetovo Prosecutor’s Office, were examined.

According to the investigation, three procurements were carried out between April and June 2020 to increase hospital capacity to cope with the pandemic. They included the containers beside the Infectious Diseases Clinic in Skopje, non-medical equipment for the regional Covid center, and the modular ward for the Clinic of Pulmonology and Allergology.