Published on 19 June 2023

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 52490/21 Dragi RASHKOVSKI against North Macedonia and 5 other applications (see list appended) communicated on 30 May 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The applications concern the remand measures ordered against Mr Rashkovski (“the first applicant”), former General Secretary of the respondent State’s Government, and Mr Stanchev (“the second applicant”), in the context of criminal proceedings against them. Both applicants were charged with abuse of office; the first applicant was also charged with money laundering.

On 16 April 2021 an investigative judge placed both applicants under house arrest and banned them from communicating with the other suspects in the case. Following an appeal by the prosecution, on 21 April 2021 the criminal panel within the Skopje Criminal Court detained them on remand until 4 June, on which date they were again placed under house arrest. Moreover, a ban on them communicating with the other suspects was ordered. The orders for their pre-trial detention and house arrest, including the extension orders of 20 May, 4 June, 2 July, 30 July and 1 September 2021, were based on the risk of absconding and interfering with the investigation. The orders relied on the nature and type of the offence of which the applicants were suspected, as well as the gravity of the charges and severity of the potential penalty, and their material and family situation in the respondent State. With regard to the first applicant, they also took into account the fact that he was living at a different address than the one indicated in his ID, the fact that, during his term of office, he had made acquaintances all over the country and abroad, which could help him abscond, as well as the risk that he might influence witnesses and hide evidence. With regard to the second applicant, the courts took into account the fact that on the day when his home had been searched, he had been found at a different address than the one registered in his ID; furthermore, he might influence witnesses and hide evidence. The orders adopted after 8 October 2021 were based only on the risk of the applicants’ absconding. The first applicant was released on bail on 2 February 2022. The second applicant was released on 29 August 2022 and restrictive measures had been ordered against him, including the confiscation of his passport and the ban for a new one to be issued.

In the same criminal proceedings, a temporary seizure of the first applicant’s and his children’s assets was ordered on 11 April 2022 by the Skopje Criminal Court which decided that the measure was to last until the end of the proceedings before the first-instance court. The decision was confirmed by the Skopje Court of Appeal on 5 September 2022.

The criminal proceedings against the applicants are still ongoing.

The applicants complain under Article 5 §§ 1 (c) and 3 and Article 6 of the Convention that the courts did not provide sufficient reasons for the extension of their pre-trial detention and house arrest, did not communicate to the first applicant the prosecutor’s requests for the extension of his pre-trial detention and house arrest and that the Skopje Court of Appeal did not hold oral hearings when examining their appeals against the impugned detention orders. Furthermore, the first applicant complains under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention about the temporary seizure of his assets.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Was the deprivation of the applicants’ liberty from 16 April 2021 onwards compatible with Article 5 § 3 of the Convention? In particular, did the courts provide relevant and sufficient grounds for ordering and extending their pre-trial detention and house arrest during the entire period in question (see Merabishvili v. Georgia [GC], no. 72508/13, §§ 222-25, 28 November 2017, and Miladinov and Others v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , nos. 46398/09, 50570/09 and 50576/09, §§ 45-49, 24 April 2014)?

2. Was the procedure regarding the deprivation of the first applicant’s liberty in conformity with Article 5 § 4 of the Convention? In particular, were the prosecutor’s requests for the extension of his pre-trial detention and house arrest of 19 May, 2 and 29 July 2021 and any supporting documents communicated to the first applicant (see, mutatis mutandis , Miladinov and Others , cited above, §§ 64 and 67)?

3. Were the applicants heard at reasonable intervals in the review proceedings before the Skopje Court of Appeal, as required by Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, while the house arrest was extended between 8 October 2021 and 2 February 2022 with regard to the first applicant, and between 8 October 2021 and 29 August 2022 with regard to the second applicant (see Çatal v. Turkey , no. 26808/08, § 33, 17 April 2012, and the cases cited therein)?

4. Has there been a violation of the first applicant’s right to peaceful enjoyment of his possessions, guaranteed by Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, in view of the decisions of 11 April 2022 (confirmed on 5 September 2022) ordering a temporary seizure of his property (see Džinić v. Croatia , no. 38359/13, §§ 59-82, 17 May 2016)? In particular, were the impugned decisions in accordance with the law and were the restrictions proportionate? In this respect, the Government are invited to inform the Court of whether the public solicitor claimed damages in the proceedings against the first applicant.

APPENDIX

Lis of cases:

No.

Application no.

Case name

Lodged on

Applicant Year of Birth Place of Residence Nationality

Represented by

1.

52490/21

Rashkovski v. North Macedonia

19/10/2021

Dragi RASHKOVSKI 1984 Skopje

Veronika RASHKOVSKA

2.

52527/21

Stanchev v. North Macedonia

20/10/2021

Daniel STANCHEV 1985 Skopje

Slave STANCHEV

3.

14211/22

Rashkovski v. North Macedonia

07/03/2022

Dragi RASHKOVSKI 1984 Skopje

Veronika RASHKOVSKA

4.

19444/22

Stanchev v. North Macedonia

09/04/2022

Daniel STANCHEV 1985 Skopje

Slave STANCHEV

5.

43670/22

Stanchev v. North Macedonia

02/09/2022

Daniel STANCHEV 1985 Skopje

Slave STANCHEV

6.

49756/22

Rashkovski v. North Macedonia

10/10/2022

Dragi RASHKOVSKI 1984 Skopje

Veronika RASHKOVSKA