Skopje’s Criminal Court sentenced the former North Macedonian government secretary general Dragi Rashkovski to eight years in jail in a first-instance verdict. Rashkovski was found guilty of abuse of office and money laundering.
The case has come to be known in North Macedonia as the “software” case, in which seven defendants purchased overpriced software for the police that was not used or needed.
Rashkovski plead not guilty, and has the option to appeal. The six other defendants received prison sentences ranging from three to eight years.
According to the charges, Rashkovski and his collaborators sold the state software intended for traffic safety between June 2017 to February 2021. The software was not needed, or not put to use.
The so-called “software” case includes four tenders from the General Secretariat of the Government, then headed by Draghi Rashkovski, for a biometric identification system. The software was designed to determine the average speed of vehicles in traffic, as well as issue fines. Special cameras for recognising vehicle license plates were also procured, as well as metal booths for the needs of the biometric identification and license plate recognition systems.
The procurements cost the state budget a total of 6.4 million euros.
In handing down the verdict on the North Macedonian government secretary, Judge Janchuleva Mihailovska said the prosecution had successfully proved the allegations, including charges that the fees paid to two defendants were not justified as they did not fulfil the agreed remit. In fact, the bulk of the money ended up in Rashkovski’s pockets.
In order to collect damages, bank accounts and property in the name of Rashkovski’s immediate family have all been frozen.
In response, Rashkovski accused both the judge and prosecutor of collusion and of having an agreement to convict him. Rashkovski claims to have evidence for his allegations.
Rashkovski was government general secretary from 2017 to 2021, after which he resigned under pressure from the criminal investigation opened against him. Rashkovski served in the governments led by former Prime Minister and former Social Democratic chief Zoran Zaev.
Zaev resigned from both posts in late-2021. The Social Democrats, now under the leadership of Dimitar Kovacevski, remain in power in North Macedonia.
The leading prosecutor on the case, Ivana Trajcheva, asked for the detention of Rashkovski and the other defendants due to flight risk. The court rejected the detention order.
Last month, North Macedonia’s prosecution said it was working on six active cases of abuse of position and fraud in relation to the Mayor of Struga, Ramiz Merko.
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