Judicial Council: Judge Emvedin Ferati could not impose a higher penalty for the driver who overcame Teodora Ristovska
The Judicial Council has announced the finding of the working group on the case against Mensur Pajaziti, who was sentenced to two years in prison for the trampling of 22-year-old Teodora Ristovska. The working group confirmed that Judge Emvedin Ferati could not give a higher penalty due to Article 428 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits changing the judgment of worse if the appeal is declared only in favor of the defendant.
– Pursuant to Article 428 of the LCP, if the appeal is only in favor of the defendant the verdict must not be amended to his damage regarding the legal assessment of the crime and the criminal sanction – reads the statement from the Judicial Council.
In support of the conclusion of the inspection in the case, the Council cites a chronological overview of the conduct of the courts under which the Tetovo Public Prosecutor’s Office first filed a indictment for serious offenses against traffic safety, which provides for a prison sentence of one to five years. The Tetovo Basic Court ruled with a prison sentence of three years and six months. The defendant filed an appeal, and the Court of Appeal Gostivar upheld it partially, reducing the sentence to two years. The Supreme Court overturned the verdict and the case returned to a retrial. After pleading guilty, the Tetovo Basic Court again sentenced the defendant to two years in prison.
The subsidiary of the Association of Judges of RSM at the Tetovo Basic Court today also issued a statement explaining in detail the current litigation related to the death of young Theodora Ristovska, starting from the first trial, the decision of the Appeal and the Supreme Court to the last two -year trial. According to them, Judge Emvedin Ferati, who made the verdict in the repeated trial, as well as Judge Verka Kostovska, who tried the first trial, which in the meantime retired, acted exclusively in accordance with the prescribed legal norms.
The formed group comes after the verdict caused strong reactions to the whole process and the « mild » punishment. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski urged the Judicial Council to review the work of the judge. The Judicial Council also demanded that the Minister of Justice Igor Filkov, who commented on the verdict, noting that the confidence of the citizens in the judiciary was very low.
Theodora’s family reacted to the amount of punishment and the long duration of the whole procedure. They today in an open letter made gratitude for public support, the media and the prime minister and expressed hope that there would be a reaction from the Judicial Council after a two -year prison sentence for the driver in a traffic accident in which their daughter and sister lost her life in 2022.
– We sincerely hope that the Judicial Council will react adequately in connection with the scandalous and shameful decision of Tetovo Judge Edvedin Ferati and we have a doubt as a family that politics, bribes and corruption are behind this verdict. We will continue to fight for justice for Theodora – say in a letter from the Ristovski family.
Judge Emvedin Ferati was further criticized in the public for suspicion of his integrity that you have fixed the assessments of the University of Tetovo with reconciliation. The State Education Inspectorate last year identified irregularities in his assessments, which led to the pre -trial from the Skopje Public Prosecutor’s Office, where the latest information was found that he had grown the cases.
