Former Prime Minister Gruevski Acquitted in “Talir 2” Case

The Skopje Basic Criminal Court has issued an acquittal for former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in the case known as “Talir 2,” which involved charges of abuse of official authority and illegal financing of the VMRO-DPMNE party headquarters.

During the reading of the verdict, Judge Daniela Aleksovska emphasized that the process was influenced by the 2023 amendments to the Criminal Code and the corresponding modification of the indictment.

“Although there were reformulations in the indictment, the evidence and facts presented did not change. The court concludes that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Gruevski exceeded his official duties,” Aleksovska stated.

She underlined that the trial panel fully supported the perspective of the Court of Appeals, according to which the revisions to the Criminal Code are favorable to the accused.

The acquittal, according to her, stems directly from the legal changes adopted in 2023, which also led to the annulment of the initial conviction in this case.

“Even though this decision differs from the previous one, the court’s examination and interpretation of the evidence, facts, and conclusions have remained the same. Based on the same evidentiary material on which the commission of the crime through abuse of office was previously established, the court now considers that it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it was committed through exceeding authority or failure to perform official duties,” Aleksovska declared.

She confirmed that the court maintains an unchanged approach in analyzing and evaluating evidence, basing its decisions solely on established facts.

Present at the verdict hearing in the Skopje Criminal Court were the court-appointed lawyers for Gruevski, Petar Timovski, and for VMRO-DPMNE, Kristina Manevska, as well as the party’s legal representative, Lubica Nikollovska.

The costs of the court proceedings will be covered by the state budget, while the court also dismissed the prosecution’s request for the seizure of the VMRO-DPMNE headquarters.

This is a first-instance decision, and the involved parties may appeal it to higher judicial instances.

In April 2023, the “Talir 2” case was taken over by prosecutor Kristian Smilevski from the Skopje Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office, following the withdrawal of the previous prosecutor, Lenče Ristovska.

The Skopje Court of Appeals, in January 2024, overturned the first verdict for the “Talir 2” case due to amendments to the Criminal Code affecting Article 353, sending the case back for retrial at the first instance.

Meanwhile, the charge of “abuse of official position” against former government secretary general Kiril Bozhinovski became time-barred, while the proceedings continued only for former Prime Minister Gruevski and the political entity VMRO-DPMNE.

On June 7, 2022, the Skopje Criminal Court handed down its initial decision, under which Gruevski, who is abroad, received a non-final sentence of six years imprisonment, while Kiril Bozhinovski received a suspended sentence.