Court adjourns “Total” trial to March 30 due to suspect’s absence


The journalist Dragan Pavlovic Latas, who is charged with tax evasion in “Total” case of Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), did not attend Friday’s hearing due to personal and family reasons, his defence told.

Defence provided medical evidence for Latas’s inability to attend the court hearing.

The judge Slavica Naumova Josifovska adjourned the main hearing to March 30.

The prosecutor Ljubomir Lape asked the court to set additional new hearings for easier organization of the case, after which the court scheduled a trial on April 11 and 23.

The “Total” case is regarding tax evasion, where the suspect is the owner and manager of the company’s “Total DOOEL Skopje,” “Mediamaks” and “Total Media Centar” DOOEL Skopje. Latas and legal entities provided false data aimed at evading payment of taxes in the final accounts and tax returns in the period from 2008 to 2015. Legal entities damaged the budget by €121,000, while the suspect by €63,000.