Macedonia's Supreme Court has refused the proposal of the Criminal Court to use the former's grand hall for the 'Diva Naselba' hearings and the case in which 29 people are suspected of committing acts of terrorism and participating in a terrorist organization, Telegraf.mk reads.
Because of this, the Wednesday-scheduled hearing will be postponed.
The press release issued by the Supreme Court president, Lidija Nedelkova, says that if it allows the usage of the grand hall for the 'Diva Naselba' trial, then the court's safety and its regular work will be put in danger. Nedelkova deems that due to security reasons, it is best if the trial's hearings are held outside the courts' premises.
"The Supreme Court's hall has a solemn nature, and it is used for holding officials events. It does not have technical conditions and it is not equipped to function as a courtroom. On the other hand, if we allow the trial in question to be held in this hall, then the safety and the regular work of the court will be endangered, in line with the notifications I received from the commander of the court police," the press release reads.
The experience thus far has shown that when a hearing is held at the building housing the Basic Court Skopje 1, the measures that are taken by the Interior Ministry in terms of providing conditions for the trial, entail the introduction of a state of emergency, and also aggravate and disable the free movement and the approach of parties and employees at the court complex, which on the long-term, would jeopardize the safety, and will have a negative impact and influence over the burdened realization of the regular assignments in these courts, Nedelkova maintains.
Supreme Court president Lidija Nedelkova.
The Supreme Court head points to the Criminal Court that there are other state institutions that have halls at their disposal which provide sufficient space for the implementation of the legal proceedings. Nedelkova believes that it is better if the trial is held outside the complex where all the Skopje-based court buildings are located.
The trial on the 'Diva Naselba' case kicked off in the Supreme Court's grand hall, but later it was transferred to a small courtroom at the Criminal Court. The lawyers of the defendants in the case responded to the change because of the inability of the accused persons' relatives to attend and follow the hearings. Reporters follow the hearings from the library room via a video connection.