The Criminal Court will announce the verdict for Zahir Bekiri - Caus, and his brother Imer Zekiri, both suspects in the case "Affairs Factory" on Tuesday, both charged for printing false identity cards, passports and other documents.
Prosecutor Natasa Godzoska in her closing argument said that the experts' testimony confirmed that planting additional data in the computers would show, but such an activity was not determined. This refers to the examination of the computers found in Caus's home which contained 70,000 illegally wiretapped conversations, and a database with stolen identities of over 120,000 citizens.
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The defense attorney, Miroslav Vujic, said the indictment is a result of a three-month scenario and that everything had started with the search of Zekiri's home on December 18, 2015, when the probe was carried out under suspicion of drug possession, but officials seized computers, USB devices and laptops. Contrary to the prosecution, Vujic claimed that the data found in the computers was planted. He requested the acquittal of Zahir and Imer Bekiri.
At court, both defendants pleaded not guilty for the criminal acts they are charged with. Caus and his brother are charged for manufacturing and purchasing weapons, and other devices for committing criminal acts, forging personal documents, and abuse of personal data.
He said that after arranging the meeting on the phone, he met a person, whose identity he did not uncover, near the Focus magazine offices, and gave him the 150 personal IDs wrapped in paper, saying they were forged and printed on two locations, that police knew about it, and that there are around 30,000 forged personal IDs used during elections.
"That was enough for me to investigate the case. Firstly, I took the IDs to the Interior Ministry and filed a report, and two days later I published my first article on the case. Then, it was important not to be focused on the IDs only, but to start investigating more broadly - who are the people on the IDs' photographs, whether they exist, is the personal information theirs, and are they true, and to try to answer the dilemma if these IDs have made their way to the elections," Arsic said.
He said in court that 7 months after this event, he and the magazine's editorial staff, are unfamiliar, wtith the person who produced the ID cards, where and with what goal, were they ordered, and did anyone pay for their printing. He did not state who handed him the IDs. When asked by the prosecution whether he is familiar with the identity of the person, Arsic said the source will remain anonymous.
Dozens of citizens whose personal data had been used in forging the IDs also gave statements at court during the proceedings. The common element in all statements was that none of the people knew their data has been abused for forging IDs.
Experts of the Sector for Computer Forensics with the Interior Ministry have also given statements at court.
Caus is currently serving prison sentence in Idrizovo for another criminal act.
During the searches conducted on seven locations in Skopje and the surrounding area, as well as Caus's prison cell in Idrizovo, investigators found a large arsenal of weapons, laptops, cell phones, USB devices, and different types of documents.
The initial searches in his home in December 2015 uncovered 70,000 wiretapped conversations, which according to investigators, would have been used to blackmail people from the businessmen and politicians.