The start of the trial against Zahir Bekiri - Caus and his brother, Imer, the main suspects in the 'Affairs Factory' case in relation to false ID cards, passports and other documents, was postponed on Friday because the defense wanted to see all the evidence that are in the possession of the Skopje Public Prosecutor's Office.
The brothers' attorney, Miroslav Vujic, said the defense was unable to examine all the evidence until this day and that is why he demands a postponement of the hearing. Prosecutor Natasa Gadzoska said the evidence were not submitted to him because he did not requested them and agreed that the court needs to enable him to see them. She added that in the meantime, after the indictment was filed, new evidence were collected on the production of 105 false ID cards.
The judicial authority accepted the request and set the date when the attorney and the two suspects will have the opportunity to scrutinize all the evidence at the court's premises.
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The person known as Caus had an opportunity to speak before the court. He said that on February 26 he was taken to the premises of the Skopje Prosecutor's Office from the Idrizovo prison, where he was kept for four hours. According to his own words, he was psychologically badgered, while several people forced him to sign a statement, admitting that the SDSM leader, Zoran Zaev, and former intelligence officer, Zoran Verusevski, gave him the USB with the wiretapped conversations. After he refused to sign, he was 'physically molested'. There, he said, he was threatened that if he did not sign the statement, his entire family would be put in prison. He admitted that maybe he provoked the prosecutor and the state officials by swearing, but he argued 'that is not a justification for them to beat me'.
Zahir Bekiri requested the withdrawal of the prosecutor from his case but after consulting with his attorney, he dismissed the proposal. However, he did say he would file a criminal charge against Gadzoska.
In his address, the attorney, Vujic, spoke about President Gjorge Ivanov's decision to abolish all legal procedures led against politicians from the ruling parties and the opposition and their associates. According to him, the fact that his client Zahir Bekiri is not on the list of pardoned persons is a dismissal of the accusation against him, given the fact that he is known in the public as a collaborator of the SDSM leader, Zoran Zaev.
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"Zahir Bekiri - Caus is known in the public as the 'fabricator' of lies, documents, personal ID cards, passports and as a close associate of president Zoran Zaev, a member of SDSM, but I didn't read his name in the list of abolition decisions. It seems the president has forgotten that Zahir should also be included in the list, or it is a dismissal of all the speculations and a sign that the 'Affairs Factory' should be looked for on a completely different place," Vujic underlined.
Otherwise, ten witnesses provided by the Prosecutor's Office were expected to appear at court on Friday. The next hearing is scheduled for April 25.
Skopje's Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Zekiri and his brother Imer on April 1. Caus is charged for three acts of crime: manufacturing and supply of weapons that were to be used to commit other crimes, forging official documents and abuse of personal data.
Imer is charged for committing the crime of manufacturing and supply of weapons intended for other crimes, forging official documents and abuse of personal data.
Currently, Caus is serving a prison sentence for a different crime.
During raids on seven locations in Skopje and its surroundings, as well as inside Caus' cell at the Idrizovo prison, a large amount of weapons was discovered, as well as laptops, cell phones, USBs and different papers.
During the initial searches inside his home in December last year, more than 70,000 recorded conversations were also found, which according to the investigation, were supposed to be used as a blackmail material over officials in the business sector and different political figures.
According to the investigation, Caus was frequently communicating with Zoran Zaev, as well as Macedonia's technical Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, who also holds a high position in the party.