SPO denies responsibility in Gruevski’s escape

The Special Prosecutor’s Office has no guilt in the escape of Nikola Gruevski. We have continually urged and filed requests for detention and the court was the institution that took the decisions, said prosecutor Lile Stefanova on Wednesday.

Stefanova told reporters that the responsibility for Gruevski’s escape was institutional.

“SPO has continually appealed and filed requests for detention of Nikola Gruevski and other suspects in case Titanic. The requests was denied during the investigative stage and when we filed the indictment. Instead, Gruevski’s passport was confiscated and he was supposed to report to the court once a week. Later, the court accepted Gruevski’s request to report once a month. All these conditions led to this escape,” said Stefanova after today’s Titanic hearing.

According to her, the flight risk is serious in a case such as Titanic, where defendants face prison sentences ranging between 3-5 years.

Asked why the court did not ask for custody of Gruevski in the Tank case in which the verdict was reached, prosecutor Stefanova said that she could not comment on a case that she did not conduct.