Court orders two 30-day-jail detentions and one house arrest for former ministers

Former agriculture minister Aco Spasenovski was placed under house arrest on medical grounds.

Former agriculture minister and current MP Ljupcho Dimovski has claimed parliamentary immunity, so his case will be considered at a later date, the Court announced Friday afternoon.

The four former Ministry of Agriculture officials were arrested Friday morning over abuse of office related to leasing agriculture land, resulting in losses of over EUR 1,4 million to the national budget.

“The persons are suspected of concluding agreements for lease of agriculture land, which they did not terminate despite the lessees not paying not paying the fee.

“This involves 584 lease agreements across the country, with total budget losses exceeding MKD 88,46 million (EUR 1,4 million),” the Public Prosecutor’s Office for organized crime and corruption said in a press release.