Deskoska: Pardoning procedure can only go through the Justice Ministry

North Macedonia’s Justice Minister Renata Treneska-Deskoska said Tuesday there is no legal grounds for a pardoning procedure by the President.

“Article 11 of the Law on Pardoning, which stipulated such a procedure on the part of the President, has been deleted,” explains Justice Minister Deskoska.

She adds that the second obstacle comes from the fact that presidential elections have been scheduled, meaning that no pardons can be given during the election period.

“Once the elections were scheduled, the Justice Ministry has not forwarded any pardoning cases to the President’s Office. Once the State Election Commission officially declares the elections as complete, pardoning requests can be forwarded to the President,” says Minister Deskoska.

The President’s Office has recently received several pardoning requests from defendants in the case related to the April 27 Parliament storming.