site.btaPendarovski Will Decree Promulgation of Controversial Criminal Code Amendments

Despite calls by NGOs to veto controversial revisions to the Criminal Law, North Macedonia's President has decided to sign a decree on the promulgation of the amending law, his office said on Thursday.

"The amendments to the Criminal Code, as adopted by Parliament, do not provide for amnesty for criminal offences committed in the line of duty. On the contrary, penal sanctions are provided for the perpetrators of such acts, and the revisions lay an emphasis on the so-called extended confiscation of property," the press release says.

President Pendarovski expects that the measure of extended confiscation of property will not remain on paper only as has been the case so far but to be applied much more often in practice and in all cases of ascertained abuse of office, while illegally acquired property benefits and misused funds are to revert to the Exchequer, the President's office said.

The Criminal Code amendments that have been rushed through Parliament have captured the limelight in the country. The opposition VMRO-DPMNE, who voted against the motion, claimed that the provisions covertly amnesty the crimes committed by the incumbent Government. Certain analysts argue that the amendments benefit former senior officials of the VMRO-DPMNE government who are already prosecuted for such acts. For their part, the sponsors of the bill from SDSM insisted that the Code needs to be amended so as to be harmonized with EU law. Tensions have also mounted between The Left and VMRO-DPMNE, who traded recriminations of backing the changes.