Macedonian Secret Police 'Obstructing Eavesdropping Trial'

At the court hearing in the so-called 'Fortress' case on Tuesday in Skopje, the Special Prosecution, SJO said that the Macedonian Secret Police, the UBK, was protecting its employees by refusing to allow the declassification of data so it can be used as evidence against them.

At the start of the trial in November, Skopje Criminal Court ordered the SJO to file a request to the UBK for the declassification of the data, but the Secret Police declined.

"Not only did they refuse to declassify the evidence, stating that this will harm national security, but the UBK is also protects its employees who are charged in the Fortress case," said SJO prosecutor Lence Ristoska.

"They are charged in court and the Secret Police, instead of suspending them, promotes them to higher positions," Ristoska added.

Defence lawyers meanwhile asked the court to dismiss the evidence which the police refused to declassify. They insisted that the SJO should drop the charges due to a lack of evidence.

"You want the UBK to declassify evidence and allow you to run a case which may reveal information about some terrorism case or something else, and to endanger national security," defence lawyer Nikola Dodevski said in court.

Prosecutor Ristoska however insisted that according to the law, information cannot stay classified if it contains evidence of a crime.

Judge Lidija Petrovska suggested that the SJO should seek an opinion from the National Directorate for Security of Classified Information on whether the proposed evidence could be used selectively, only in the courtroom and without the public present.

Meanwhile the SJO plans once more to demand that the UBK declassify the evidence. If its demand is refused again, the court...