As the Ombudsman’s Office announced, Selami, together with the Civil Control Mechanism team, met with prison director Boban Utkovski as well as deputy director Baki Mustafi, to obtain more detailed information about the search carried out by members of the Prison Police Intervention Unit, which is under the direct authority of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions.

During this visit, the Ombudsman also held direct talks with several inmates who were subject to the search.

At the center of these talks was the manner in which members of the unit acted during the search, specifically whether the procedures and standards set out in the relevant acts were followed, and whether there was any overstepping of official powers or use of excessive force.

The Ombudsman’s Office said that during the course of today, the Civil Control Mechanism team will continue the investigation into this case, while after the verifications are completed, the Ombudsman will inform the public about the findings and the steps that will be taken.

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The institution announced that, immediately after receiving information about the incident, it today dispatched a team from the Civil Control Mechanism, which will carry out an inspection at the prison to clarify the circumstances of the event.

“The Ombudsman, after receiving information that several persons were injured during a search conducted by the Prison Police Intervention Unit, which is under the direct authority of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions, at the ‘Skopje’ Penitentiary and Correctional Institution, today sent a team from the Civil Control Mechanism in order to carry out an inspection,” the statement said.

They stress that, after all the facts are gathered and the factual situation is established, the public will be informed of the conclusions of the inspection and the findings related to this case.

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After failing to find a solution to this institutional deadlock, he turned to the Ombudsman for help.

In the Ombudsman’s report, cited by “Fokus”, it states: “Acting within its constitutional and legal powers to protect citizens’ rights, the Ombudsman proceeded on a complaint submitted on 24.01.2023 by a citizen from Skopje, who had conducted proceedings before several authorities for more than seven years in order to be removed from the death register, where he had been mistakenly recorded following the death of his twin brother abroad, due to the switching of personal documents.”

The mix-up began in 2001, when Afet’s twin brother went to the Czech Republic and, without his knowledge, took Afet’s passport. Shortly afterward, he died abroad and, based on the passport, the institutions recorded that Afet had died.

Although he has proven through his fingerprint that he is Afet, the institutions continue to pass responsibility for correcting this error to one another. The Civil Court and the Civil Registration Office are shifting jurisdiction for resolving the case back and forth.

The citizen submitted a request to the Skopje Basic Civil Court to be declared alive, but the court issued a decision declaring itself not competent, arguing that such a procedure is not provided for under the applicable legal regulations. After this decision became final, the citizen was instructed to pursue the matter before the Civil Registration Office.

On the other hand, the Administration referred the citizen back to court procedures, stressing that only the court has the authority to issue a decision declaring a person alive, after which the Administration can remove the entry from the register of the dead. Because of this mutual passing of jurisdiction, without any substantive action on the request, the Ombudsman assessed that the fundamental right to life is being violated, since the citizen who is officially listed as dead is prevented from exercising even the most basic rights./Telegrafi/

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Efforts to make this possible have also involved the Ombudsman in this neighboring state of Kosovo.

Faton Selami announced that he has approached the government in Skopje with an initiative to harmonize the laws regulating the administration of the bar exam, so that Albanian students can have the opportunity to take this exam in their mother tongue, Albanian.

In a statement to KosovaPress, he said he had received a response from the government saying that a working group of experts had already been established and is reviewing the legal possibilities for drafting a proposal that would resolve this issue.

Selami stressed that this is a matter of particular importance and that the institution he leads has opened a case on its own initiative to address it.

“This issue is very current; it was activated in the first days after I assumed the office of Ombudsman. For this reason, I saw it as reasonable to open a case on my own initiative to resolve this issue, so that students who have completed their studies, up to graduation and afterward, in the Albanian language, may be enabled to take not only the bar exam, but also the exams for notaries and enforcement agents, in their mother tongue,” Selami said.

He added that he expects the working group of experts engaged by the Macedonian government to come forward with concrete proposals in the coming days.

“We have also approached the government with an initiative to harmonize these laws that explicitly regulate the conduct of these specific exams, and we have requested that the exam be made available in the mother tongue. The latest response from the government is that a working group of experts has been formed, and they are reviewing all legal possibilities and working on the preparation of a proposal regarding the resolution of this issue. There are indications that in the coming days there will also be some concrete proposal from this informal group of experts, and we as an institution are awaiting the official proposal from the government,” Selami said.

On this issue, Albanian students have protested twice. They are demanding that they not be discriminated against during the professional examination process, arguing that they completed their studies in the Albanian language and that they have the right for the bar exam to also be held in Albanian for them.

According to Selami, the use of the Albanian language in North Macedonia has consistently been a problematic issue, and he considers such debates frequent in a multilingual state like this one.

He also announced that he is dealing with another issue related to the new street names in Tetovo, where the previous names in the Albanian language have been removed. According to him, the case has also been sent to the Constitutional Court, although this issue falls within the powers of local government.

“The issue of the Albanian language has continuously been problematic in Macedonia. We are a multilingual state and this is an issue that has always been current. As for the issue of changing street names, under the law this falls under the competence of the municipalities, which must prepare proposals in accordance with the law, obtain approval from the government, have them voted on by the municipal council, and implement them in practice. There have also been initiatives submitted to the Constitutional Court, but this, as a competence, belongs to local government,” he added.

The change of street names in Tetovo has caused tensions not only in this municipality, but also in others with an Albanian majority in North Macedonia.

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