“Macedonia is no longer a free and democratic country. The country is being held hostage by Zoran Zaev who holds all institutions to ransom in a bid to cover up his own crime and clean up the road to sell out state interests. SDSM and Zoran Zaev, following in the footsteps of Communist regimes, took the final step to hamper VMRO-DPMNE’s work,” VMRO-DPMNE said in a press release after the court ordered freeze on its property, including the party headquarters known as The White Palace, amid money-laundering investigation.
“The government, through captured judiciary, froze the property of VMRO-DPMNE because it is well aware that VMRO-DPMNE is the last pillar of defense of the state and state’s interests,” the party says.
The criminal court on Thursday ordered a temporary freezing of property belonging to the main opposition party as part of an investigation into allegations of unlawful political financing. The court said the order was made following a request from the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SJO).
The SJO asked for a freeze on the selling or leasing of 69 real estate properties owned by the VMRO-DPMNE party, including its headquarters. The Special Prosecutor’s Office said 69 properties of the party had been declared subject to an order that they may not be sold or rented out pending the outcome of the case. Prosecutors said that the step was taken in view of the possibility that the properties may be expropriated after the court case is concluded.
Shortly after court-ordered freeze on opposition party’s property, VMRO-DPMNE condemned the court’s decision, accusing the government of pursuing political persecution.
At a news conference a few hours after the prosecutors announced the court ruling, VMRO-DPMNE general secretary Igor Janushev said that both the request by the prosecutors and the ruling by the court were ungrounded.
Party secretary general said VMRO-DPMNE has appealed the court order. “We demand that this temporary measure be rescinded urgently,” he said. “The party as a legal entity is not suspected, and this is beyond all legal norms.” He described the move as “political persecution” that was damaging the party. “You can threaten us and blackmail us, but we are not afraid of you,” he said.
“The government failed to break the party, and now it exerts pressure on institutions.
The Talir (silver coin) case – suspected illegal financing of VMRO-DPMNE from 2009 to 2015 in what prosecutors say was a money laundering scheme – was launched in 2017. Among the suspects in the case is former leader of VMRO-DPMNE and former prime minister Nikola Gruevski. The SJO alleges that in his capacity as president of VMRO DPMNE, Gruevski accepted 4.9 million euros in illegal donations to his party between 2009 and 2015, when he was prime minister.
