1 If, until last week, I had at least some hope that the 61 victims of the fire at the Kocani nightclub might serve as a wake-up call and a catalyst for change in the behaviour of state and local institutions, as well as public services, last week’s events have somewhat dampened my hope. Starting with the verdict for the run-over 22-year-old Teodora Ristovska from Tetovo and the never-ending circle of justice involving the Prosecutor’s Office, the Basic Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, culminating in a retrial at the Basic Court and the verdict of the Judicial Council, then moving on to the party-appointed director of the Geriatrics Department who demanded a 100,000 euro bribe to admit a patient, all the way to the incident with the female dog Ceca and the drugs found in the Shtip prison. So many fascinating cases from the “Believe or not” section, even for a small country like Macedonia, where we’ve long grown accustomed to dealing with things that are not quite believable.
Is there a solution? No, there isn’t. Teodora’s family will appeal the two-year prison sentence in vain, as the defendant wasn’t charged with a more serious crime, the Court of Appeal reduced his sentence at the prosecutor’s request, and the judge in the retrial was unable to impose a higher sentence. The Director of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions, Aleksandar Pandov, after ten months in office, continues to tell us the same thing he did on his first day – that 50 percent of prison officers are corrupt, and in order to absolve himself of any responsibility, he spins us bizarre stories about some dog. So, if even after ten months he still can’t deal with his corrupt staff, why doesn’t he resign?
However, the most appalling detail from the Prosecutor’s Office announcement is that the Director of Geriatrics accepted a bribe of 20,000 euros to admit a patient to the hospital, but only temporarily, as a guarantee until he could verify through checks that the patient also owned real estate that can be sold for 100,000 euros. Mind you, this party member, who holds an MA and was appointed by the ruling coalition, has the means to check the assets of those from whom he demands bribes. All to avoid the trouble of serving those who have nothing to offer him.
All three cases paint a picture of how our prosecution, judiciary bodies, and prisons function, where some of the corrupt state officials may eventually end up. Corruption hasn’t merely penetrated every pore of society, from a guard in an institution to a civil servant, inspector, director, mayor, and all the way to a minister. Corruption has metastasised to such an extent that it’s disintegrating the organism. But cancer isn’t cured with anecdotes, going on and on about what the predecessors did, giving statements of goodwill, or slandering those who protest and demand justice.
2 It sounds impressive when the Government announces that, following the tragedy in Kochani, where 61 people died and over 200 young people were injured, the State Market Inspectorate issued 360 fines worth around three and a half million denars in just three weeks. Calculating in millions can be a bit confusing. With some simple maths, this means that cafes, discos, cabarets, nightclubs were fined an average of around 9,500 denars each, or around 150 euros.
That’s precisely the price for a bottle of vodka or whiskey as a guarantee for a reservation, ensuring the most important table is kept for the power-drunk state directors and officials.
Once, one of them said to me: “It’s easy to criticise. Win an election, and you’ll have a table waiting for you at any restaurant.”
To be honest, I didn’t know how to respond. I was stunned, speechless.
3 It’s the same approach when it comes to all the illegal buildings, extensions, and public spaces usurped for open seating areas. Every time we write about such cases, instead of keeping quiet because they’re breaking the law, the thugs whom the government treats as investors contact us and threaten to sue, and our editorial office is flooded with cases from desperate citizens. They have no protection, no justice, from either the Municipality, the inspectors, the courts, of the state.
The municipalities issue demolition orders. But they don’t demolish anything. They always make the same excuse that they don’t have the money to do it. And while the thugs are busy building illegal stories and terraces on public buildings, the municipalities keep finding excuses for why they won’t demolish them. They’ll wait for court proceedings to give the criminals more time to bribe judges, experts, and jurors.
In Skopje, there have been cases where the government couldn’t even discover the owner of an illegal building for three terms. They didn’t know who the building belonged to. And now, the owner has his business premises, some of them are restaurants, and yet the building doesn’t have a use permit. And then they wonder who’s to blame if a fire breaks out, if the fire brigade and the ambulance can’t get through, and if people die again. Then, everyone runs away from responsibility, pretending it’s not their jurisdiction.
It’s strange how the government never has a problem with tenders for the purchase of official vehicles, for marketing and PR agencies that measure their ratings, for selecting travel agencies for business trips, and they’re always meticulous with the procurement of hazelnuts, almonds, and various dishes and drinks for guests, but, without fail, there’s always a problem with the tenders for selecting companies to demolish illegal buildings.
4 However, this week was also marked by successful projects.
The lifts in the MRTV building have been repaired. The government recorded a video with dramatic music and boasted on social media that the lifts were now going up and down, announcing that they’ll now be able to reach all floors of MRTV.
I remember that during the era of SDSM, workers danced in the tunnel near Demir Kapija when the motorway to Gevgelija opened, and guys from VMRO mocked them for it.
Yet, they get mad when you tell them that they can’t even maintain what Tito built.
5 And one more piece of good news from our motherland:
Do you remember that, after returning from Trump’s inauguration in Washington, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said in January that “he had dozens of meetings with people from President Trump’s closest perimeter in Washington and New York?”
After his visit to the USA in February, Mickoski said that “with the contacts with have with President Trump’s closest perimeter, we can only gain, not lose.”
Now that Trump says many statesmen are calling him, asking to negotiate on tariffs and kiss his ass, we don’t need to worry. Since we’re in his closest perimeter, we’ll be among the first in line. At least we won’t be licking other people’s slobber.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
