Two years after the tragic fire that claimed the lives of 14 individuals at the Tetovo COVID-19 hospital, a group of concerned citizens staged a protest on Friday. They marched from the city hospital to the Basic Prosecutor’s Office, expressing their frustration over the failure to identify and prosecute those responsible for the incident.

The public, including the families of the victims, was particularly incensed after a recent documentary revealed that the construction of the modular hospital did not meet the necessary standards. Furthermore, it was disclosed that the construction work had been awarded to a company associated with Koço Angjushev, a former Deputy Prime Minister closely linked to the former Health Minister Venko Filipče and former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

In response, the Prosecutor’s Office pressed charges against two hospital directors and a doctor from Tetovo. The two directors received suspended sentences of one and a half years each, while the doctor was acquitted of all charges.

The protesters demanded the initiation of a new judicial process by the prosecutor’s office. They also called for the removal of the chief prosecutor and the prosecutors in Tetovo who handled the case. Their placards bore the message: “32 years of state, 32 years of corruption”.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has stated that investigations are ongoing concerning the tender process for the construction of modular hospitals.

Meanwhile, another unresolved scandal continues to plague the Oncology Clinic in Skopje. The prosecutor’s office is actively investigating the theft of medication intended for cancer patients, with the intention of illegal resale on the international black market. No charges have been filed thus far, although the Ministry of Health and clinic officials have suggested that a suspended nurse had been observed stealing drugs in the past.

This case has taken on political dimensions within North Macedonia.