The Italian newspaper La Verita has published a video allegedly implicating the EU-backed Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva of North Macedonia in an extortion scandal.
The video shows two suspected blackmailers Zoran Milevski and Bojan Jovanovski, who were arrested last month, counting the money and allegedly leaving the house of a wealthy businessmen with €1 million. They had promised the controversial businessman Orce Kamcev that the money would be paid to Prosecutor Katica Janeva in exchange for lenient changes and an eventual release from detention.
The video shows the February 20, 2019 date on it.
Both suspected blackmailers were detained on July 15. The Prosecution for Organised Crime and Corruption opened an investigation into the case. Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva resigned and denied all allegations against her. Prosecutors seized her phone but were able to find her second phone only later, with all the relevant data erased.
Katica Janeva was appointed to lead the Special Prosecutor’s Office with the full backing of the EU and Federica Mogherini in particular. The scandal has rocked the country, only few months ahead of the EU decision in October on whether to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia.
La Verita has announced it will publish more “shocking documents” showing how the “EU had meddled in North Macedonia by supporting regime change and the establishment of the Special Prosecution Office, which from the beginning has not only illegally interfered in politics but is also racketeering people.”
The extorted businessman appearing in the video was seen as close to the former PM Nikola Gruevski. He was charged with “criminal association, fraud, money laundering”, only to be released on March 4, 2019.
