The Ministry of Internal Affairs in North Macedonia has filed a criminal complaint against former Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi, accusing him of involvement in irregularities during the recent parliamentary elections. According to the police announcement, Bekteshi exerted pressure through electronic messages on a police chief in the city of Ohrid. The ministry published the notice on its website and is awaiting the prosecution to proceed with the case.
Bekteshi dismissed the accusations as unfounded in a Facebook update.
“On May 7, in my capacity as the coordinator of the European Front in Electoral Unit 5, I received information from the European Front headquarters in Ohrid that on the day of the election silence, the head of the headquarters and its members were checked by the Internal Affairs Sector in Ohrid, which is a direct interference in the electoral process by them,” wrote Bekteshi.
He published the message he had sent at that time to the head of the Internal Affairs Sector in Ohrid, complaining that the police had conducted checks on members of the electoral coalition, which included the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).
“Well done! You are strong. You should be ashamed for dealing with new people.”
The former minister accuses the government of retaliation and extortion against him and his party colleagues from DUI.
The DUI also reacted by labelling the accusations as unfounded, claiming they aim to discredit the party and its representatives.
“The DUI condemns the politically motivated witch hunts. The baseless accusations of obstructing justice against Bekteshi are the latest in a series of accusations and threats against our officials,” read a statement from the opposition Albanian party.
Meanwhile, the ruling VMRO-DPMNE says that the DUI should not manipulate the media and that “it is better for them to distance themselves as soon as possible from individuals like (Kreshnik) Bekteshi”.
The Democratic Union for Integration recently announced that some of its deputies had received threatening messages via email. The Ministry of Interior did not provide further details other than that the police had been notified of the case and are investigating it.
On the other hand, representatives of the “Vlen” coalition, part of the ruling coalition, have accused the DUI of fabricating the threats to present itself as a victim to the public.
