North Macedonia Jails Former Govt Secretary General in ‘Software’ Case

Skopje's Criminal Court, on Thursday sentenced former Secretary General of the Government Dragi Rashkovski to eight years' jail in a first-instance verdict. He was found guilty of abuse of office and money laundering in the case known in North Macedonia as the "Software" case.

In addition to Rashkovski, who pleaded not guilty and has the option to appeal, six other defendants received prison sentences ranging from three to eight years.

According to the charges, Rashkovski and his collaborators between June 2017 to February 2021 sold the state software intended for traffic safety that was not needed or put to use.

The "Software" case refers to four tenders from the General Secretariat of the Government headed by Draghi Rashkovski for a biometric identification system, software to determine the average speed of vehicles in traffic and issue fines, special cameras for recognising vehicle license plates and procurement of metal booths for the needs of the biometric identification system and the system for automatic recognition of license plates.

Altogether, these procurements cost the state budget 6.4 million euros.

Elaborating the verdict, Judge Janchuleva Mihailovska said the prosecution had proved the allegations, including charges that the fees paid to two defendants were not justified because they did not fulfill the agreed job and a large part of the money ended up with Rashkovski.

In order to collect the damage done to the state, Rashkovski's real estate and property in the name of his immediate family, as well as their personal bank accounts, have been frozen.

Rashkovski, in turn accused the judge and prosecutor of collusion and an alleged agreement to convict him, for which he claimed to have evidence.