Prosecutors leave Janeva high and dry

Special Public Prosecutor Katica Janeva yesterday did not show up at the institution that she still formally manages. The rest of the prosecutors held a meeting without her, surprised and disturbed by the news about their boss who had shocked them. One of her deputies, Lenche Ristoska, said that she hadn’t called nor had any other contact with her boss, and that she learned about her resignation almost at the same time when the news was posted on the SPO’s website.
After the investigation opened by the Prosecutor’s Office for organized crime and corruption investigating Janeva’s involvement in the case, the divided prosecutors united in one camp and distance themselves from her. In her statement to the media, Ristoska did not mention Janeva’s name at any time and stressed that she made a statement in her own name, on behalf of the prosecutors of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office, the investigative team and the entire expert service of the institution. In her statement, Ristoska indirectly stated that the SPO is not just Katica Janeva, but the SPO is an institution in which prosecutors and investigators with a high professional integrity work. The prosecutors stood on the same line with the Chief Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski and welcomed the efforts of the regular prosecutor’s office to investigate anyone involved in criminal activities.
“Our primary interest is to preserve SPO’s integrity, we’ve always fought hard against crime, and that we have always acted as prosecutors and investigators, and as employees in accordance with the legal regulations and we have always tried to be up to the task by giving answers on all issues that mean dealing with the criminality that was our task to investigate. I want to point out that we are standing behind the work that we have done so far, I assure you that all the procedures that have been opened so far and for which we have prosecutorial acts and trials are not put in question because I and my colleagues can confirm that our actions were within the legal regulations. I want to inform you that we carefully monitor the developments and express great concern, but we call for respecting the presumption of innocence. I want to emphasize that we are joining the public prosecutor’s call that every person who is affected by a crime with such activities should report it, and we welcome the efforts of the competent authorities,” Ristoska said.

Prosecutor Ristoska pointed out that all possible doubts involving individuals, or in some way involve the SPO, must not put into question the integrity of their actions. The only investigation that journalists were interested in was the investigation into the “Empire” case, that is whether the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office will continue to prosecute the witness of the other prosecutor’s office, the well-known businessman Orce Kamchev. The investigation, which was opened yesterday by the Basic Prosecutor’s Office against the owner of 1TV Bojan Jovanovski, has also opened the Pandora’s Box for the “Empire” case.
The Prosecutor’s office accused Boki 13 of taking1.5 million euros from Kamchev and, in return, promised him to influence Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva to stop the investigation against him. Yesterday, the police entered the special prosecutor’s home and confiscated her mobile phone. The prosecutor who led the case, Lile Stefanova also found herself in the public eye. Stefanova claims that there is enough evidence for the case that was supposed to prove the crime of the previous government.

“The investigation will have to continue, there are grounds for suspicion, sufficient evidence and more than enough evidence, no matter which prosecution is leading the procedure,” Stefanova told reporters.
Although it was foreseen that Prosecutor Ristoska will be the one answering all reporters’ questions, who claimed that whether the witness will be prosecuted depends on the evidence that will be collected, and whether it will be confirmed that there is a suspicion to initiate an indictment for this case, Stefanova also responded. She too distanced herself from the decisions of her boss and clearly stated that she was not informed about Janeva’s decision that shocked the entire public, that is, for Kamchev to demand the replacement of prison detention with house arrest before New Year’s.
“According to the law on the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office, all decisions, each report that comes out of this prosecution is only signed by Katica Janeva. I have not signed any decision that came out of this prosecution. Neither this, nor the decision for returning the passports to Cvetan Pandeleski and others. All decisions are signed and carried out by Janeva”, said Stefanova.
Former SPO adviser, lawyer Aleksandar Tortevski believes that with these recent events, the SPO has lost credibility to handle the “Empire” case, and believes that this case should be taken over by the regular Prosecutor’s Office.
“The SPO should be exempt from that case, but also from other cases, and everyone should take over the regular prosecution for the prosecution of organized crime and corruption. My idea now is that all public prosecutors should go into organized crime and continue working on these cases, so there will be continuity and the pattern will be respected,” Tortevski said.
However, what is causing this case to be the Supreme Court’s legal opinion, which proclaimed the SPO unauthorized to manage cases that were opened after the contested term, and this case was opened in November last year, that is, after June 30, 2017. The news about the special public prosecutor’s resignation came at the same time with the news that Jovanovski was arrested. For Tortevski, Janeva’s resignation is not accidental.
When you are a public official, especially in such a subtle position you need to take care and with whom you spend your time and with whom you have your coffee. If she felt moral responsibility because she allowed taking pictures, socializing with such people, get her son a job there, and if she was abused, then the resignation is sufficient. However, if she undertook actions under the influence of the suspects to receive some kind of preferential treatment or special treatment, then it enters into a domain of criminal responsibility and this should be seriously investigated,” says Tortevski.
For the time being, the prosecution has not filed any charges against Janeva, although her mobile phone was seized during the police search yesterday. For now, there is no evidence against Janeva.

Frosina Fakova-Serafinovic