people with spare homeland

EXTRADITIONS IN THE BALKANS (2)
PEOPLE WITH SPARE
HOMELAND
Criminals in one country, free citizens in other. The people with spare passport, also
have their reserve country, which serves them as a safe place for hiding when the police
gets the warrant for their arrest.
Those suspected for crime in the Balkans are always well informed whether there is a
ongoing investigation against them.
When they receive the first signals that is
possible to end up behind the bars ,they
instantly pack their bags,say farewell to
their closest family members and before
departure they never forget to take the
most important thing-the passport for the
country where they plan to flee.
Only one step on the other side of the
state border is enough for them to feel
safe since than the warrant becomes a
useless piece of paper.
The reason for that is simple: The Balkan
countries do not extradite their own
citizens ,so the suspected criminals move
from one country to another just to escape
the justice and the law enforcement
organs.
What is their life like, are they afraid from
returning in their homeland or are actually
satisfied from the conditions in the
alternative motherland?
Our reporters were investigating the
phenomenon about the evasion of the
justice by using dual citizenship.
More passports, the more chances to escape justice
While the European Union is constantly alarming the public and the media that the
Balkan countries have a chronic problem with this phenomenon, the officials from this
region reply that the whole situation is not serious as in the presented reports. Instead of
working how to resolve this issue, they try to relativize and marginalize the interstate
problems.
THE PROBLEM WITH DARAVELSKI
As a confirmation of the previously stated problem, is the example with Macedonia and
Serbia in the case of the ex-chief of the Macedonian Customs direction, Dragan
Daravelski.
He was sentenced to seven years prison punishment in Macedonia, but thanks to his
dual citizenship lives freely in Belgrade. In 2006 he was arrested by the
Serbian police who acted on behalf of the warrant issued by the Macedonian
persecution organs, but he was expressly released when it was determined that he is
also a citizen of Serbia.
Since than ,his extradition is practically impossible. Our north neighbor does not accept
the existence of such problem.
-From Serbian perspective, we
don't have any problems with dual
citizenships with Macedonia and
Slovenia. This is a dispute among
BiH, Montenegro, Serbia and
Croatia. Macedonia has similar
cases with Bulgaria, but not with
us. The procedure for issuing a
passport to a Macedonian citizen
will be the same as the one who
comes from Guinea Bissau-says
Milos Oparnica, chief of the
Serbian Interpol.
Ex-chief of the Macedonian Customs, Dragan
Daravelski
We don't know whether
Daravelski has any connection
with Guinea Bissau, but he easily
managed to get his Serbian
citizenships and trick the
Macedonian authorities.
The question is when and how he succeeded to that-before or after the issued warrant.
-In cooperation with the Direction for administrative affairs, everyone who applies for
citizenship is immediately checked whether its a person who may be prosecuted and
looked for some crime act. He can not get Serbian citizenship, while there is a
international warrant on his name. We have never recorded a case in Serbia where
some citizen from another country managed to escape the justice and we have never
given a citizenship to a person who is on the international lists of people wanted for
crime-says Oparnica.
Its seems that Daravelski was three steps ahead of everyone involved, so he secured
the necessary documents on time.
The state secretary at the Serbian Ministry of Justice, Slobodan Homen, says that
Serbia does not have serious problem with Macedonia around this question and that the
case "Daravelski" can be quickly solved.
-If Macedonia asks for its extradition, first it should sign a bilateral agreement with
Serbia. We are prepared to that. If the demanded delivery is realized, that will mean that
the countries have really established quality relations and trust in the judicial system of
that country-says Homen.
To check whether this is agreeable for the both sides, we tried to ask for a opinion in
Macedonia, but not from politicians, but from people who are dealing with the problem of
dual citizenship on daily basis-the judges.
JUDGES WITH NO POWER
We went to the courts and asked what happens when someone suspected for crime is
not available for the law enforcement organs, and the state has already used all the
possible means to bring the suspect on the accused bench?
The most common reply was that in these cases, the suspects are usually put on trial in
absence. The accused has e lawyer, the trial proceeds in normal atmosphere, and the
only difference is that the bench where the defendant should be sitting is empty.
The courts spend a lot of time and money to complete the process, they pay the lawyers
and the other expenses, but all that is useless.
Criminal Court in Skopje
Few years pass after the process passes all the judicial filters-from Basic to Appeals
court and eventually the Supreme court, and after the verdict, which is usually not in
favour of the defendants, the case is resolved, at least on paper.
The accused gets the information about the final judgment by the telephone, only a
couple of minutes after the verdict. Daravelski was informed for the epilogue of his case
in the same manner.
The real problem is that in these cases the justice is not pleased, the verdict can not be
exerted since its impossible to extradite the accused. As a evidence that this cases are
pointless is the fact that the accused can be brought back in the country, but they can
still ask for a retrial which will mean that the whole process will have to start all over
again.
The cases connected with the procedure against the defendants which can not be
reached are usually kept in the drawers by the judges in all the Balkan countries. Their
hands are tied, and the “Daravelski” case is a proof for that.
According to the final verdict Dragan Daravelski was sentenced on 7 year prison
punishment. His defenders tried to use a specific judicial method and ask for a special
reconsideration of the verdict in the Supreme Court of Macedonia, which was recently
denied as ungrounded-says Vladimir Tufegdzic, investigative judge and spokesman of
the Criminal Court in Skopje.
He explains that they have totally fulfilled the conditions for performing the procedure for
exerting the verdict, but there is only one “small” problem- Daravelski is a citizen of
Serbia.
-After the final verdict, the court has the right to activate the execution of the sentence
and ask for extradition of Daravelski, but its obviously clear that the demand won’t be
accepted since according to the laws in Serbia, they don’t extradite their own citizens in
other country-say from the Criminal Court in Skopje.
If the court doesn’t have the power to act in the further procedure, maybe the solution
can be found somewhere in the Ministry of Justice. What do they do there to solve this
and all the similar cases?
-We think that there is plenty of time to bring these people to the court of justice,
because they are usually charged for serious crimes. If they are sentenced to five or ten
years in prison, usually its necessary to pass over a twice longer period of time for the
process to be considered as out-of-date.-says the Minister of Justice of Macedonia,
Mihajlo Manevski.
This means that at the moment, the time frame is the major ace in the case of
Daravelski and the similar ones, and specifically in the case of the former customs
official the deadline for the expiration of his case is 20 years.
Despite the possibility of dual citizenship to avoid the justice, this is not a successful
scenario for all those wanted for crime. Stanislava Cocorovska-Poletan which was
convicted in Macedonia for smuggling of half a ton of cocaine, was brought back in the
country after she seek for refuge in Serbia.
She didn’t manage to get he Serbian passport so,she was extradited and sentenced in
Macedonia where she got 14 years and six months in prison.
The businessmen Metodija Smilenski is also among the ones that failed to buy the
freedom with passport from another country. The Austrian citizen with Macedonian
origin, was arrested on the territory of Serbia.
In Austria, his extradition was not possible because the country also does not allow
extradition of their citizens in other country. He tried to get new documents in Serbia, but
same as Poletan, he didn’t get the passport and was delivered in Macedonia.
JUSTICE IN BANKRUPTCY
The problem between Macedonia and Bulgaria was highlighted with the cases of the
former minister of health Vlado Dimov and the bankruptcy trustee Vladislav
Tamburkovski. They both live and work in the country, although there are issued
warrants against them.
The investigation in the case of Dimov is still in progress, while Tamburkovski has 4
effective verdicts, sentence on 15 years in prison and over one million euros in debt.
When the information that Dimov is under investigation for abuse was published, he was
on medical specialization in Turkey. After this, he moved to Bulgaria, since he was its
citizen.
The doctor was arrested last year in Poland, but this country didn’t allow his extradition
to Macedonia and he returned “home” in Bulgaria.
Boriz Berzhetski, investigative judge in the District court of Strumica, who leads the
investigation against the doctor says that their hand are tied in the case Dimov.
He still hasn’t received a notification from our Ministry of Justice about the arrest of
Vlado Dimov in Poland and the inability for his extradition.
-I have send a request to the Ministry to get all the needed information of the case, but I
haven’t received a official notification. I learned from the media that Dimov was arrested
in Poland and than released. When I get the written document about what have
happened, then I will undertake concrete measures-says Berzhetski.
Seven months have passed after the arrest of Dimov in Poland, so its not clear where is
the report and whether Macedonia has asked for his extradition. Meanwhile, one of the
options is that the trial can be set in Bulgaria, if the investigation against him is
completed and if there will be a charge against him.
Berzhetski says that this is quite possible, if Bulgaria accepts the criminal offense for
which Dimov is charged. We received the same response from the Bulgarian Ministry of
Justice.
It is interesting that although the crime suspects have spare passport and live in another
country, none of the previously mentioned have given up from the Macedonian citizenship.
We tried to get an information how many of our politicians and public figures posses spare
passports, but unfortunately , they remained silent, claiming that is their personal legal right.
The Macedonian parliament was a arena for several bitter discussions and accusations
among the members of the parliament about who has or not a spare passport as a one way
ticket in “hard times”. According to the Macedonian Ministry for internal affairs, they have no
data for the number of dual citizenships in Macedonia.
But on the other side of the border, in Bulgaria we got an information that from 2002 to 2009,
21 947 Macedonian citizens have received Bulgarian passports.
Now, the question is will the same people cause headaches for the Macedonian
investigative organs?
The head of the Serbian Interpol, Milos Oparnica says that the dual citizenship can be a
problem for Macedonia, but the Macedonian Minister of Justice,Mihajlo Manevski strongly
denies it.
Dimov : I don’t seek protection abroad
I don’t want to be put in the same box with those who seek protection in another
country, because there is no such a thing in my case. The possession of a citizenship
is ones personal matter. Nobody ever notified me and asked me for a investigation. I
found about that for the first time in Poland. I don’t see any sense in talking about
something for which I’m neither informed or contacted by the Macedonian authoritiessaid Dr. Vlado Dimov, who is facing a international arrest warrant and who works as a
surgeon in Bulgaria.
He didn’t wanted to comment whether he believes that he is involved in a political
manhunt, or whether he should feel safe to come to Macedonia.
Germany seeks trial for Shefije Jagupi
The dual citizenship and the inability to extradition is also causing problems for the
Western countries when it comes to delivering a suspected criminals from the Balkan
countries. German authorities require Macedonian trial for Shefije Jagupi, who is
suspected to have killed her husband in Frankfurt and then escaped to Macedonia.
-The investigation has already been completed in Germany. We used the diplomatic
channels to ask the Macedonian authorities to undertake an investigation and to
"prosecute Shefije Jagupi in Macedonia. She is a Macedonian citizen and can not be
extradited to Germany. So far, we have not received any notification that they decided
to investigate the case –says Christophe Kupma, public prosecutor in Frankfurt.
Norway could not locate Jusuf Hani, wanted for the spectacular robbery of the bank
system NOKAS. He was hiding in Struga, but recently surrendered himself in Norway.
(The Transnational research project is supported by the Danish
Association for Investigative Journalism and SCOOP)
Aleksandar Manasiev
Branimir Djokic