North Macedonia MPs Support Dismissing Chief Special Prosecutor

The parliamentary commission in North Macedonia on appointments and dismissals at Thursday's closed session unanimously supported the dismissal of the suspended chief of the Special Prosecution, Katica Janeva, who has been detained in relation to the "Extortion" scandal. All 13 MP members of the commission voted for her dismissal.

The session was closed because the members were reviewing the report about the "Extortion" investigation, which is still ongoing.

"The document contains enough arguments for us to support … Janeva's dismissal, unanimously and without discussion," the commission chief, opposition VMRO DPMNE party MP Ilija Dimovski, told reporters.

MPs from the main ruling Social Democrats, SDSM, told media they were disappointed by Janeva. But they said her potential individual guilt should not involve the entire Special Prosecution, SJO, which, since its formation in 2015, has been widely seen as the spearhead of the fight against high-level crime.

"If one person broke the law, the entire institution cannot be but on trial," SDSM MP and commission member Muhamed Zeqiri said.

The commission's motion is expected to go now to a plenary session of parliament. Two-thirds of the 120 MPs will have to vote in favour for Janeva's dismissal to be finalised.

The "Extortion" scandal erupted in July when businessman Bojan Jovanovski and an alleged accomplice, Zoran Milevski, were arrested on suspicion of extorting money from another businessman, Orce Kamcev.

It is alleged that they took cash from Kamcev in exchange for a promise to help him avoid jail or receive a lighter sentence in another case by using their alleged influence with Janeva's office. Janeva was detained in relation to the case on August 21 and is suspected of...