By Skopjediem
Copyright skopjediem
On Thursday, ex-National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility Director Lidija Dimova was found guilty of abuse of official position and authority, and sentenced to two years in prison. She was also ordered to cover court costs and compensate the financial damage of 22.7 million denars to the Agency as well.
The Skopje Criminal Court found her guilty of the crime of official position and authority, but acquitted her with regards to the act of fraud. Commenting on the verdict, Dimova ironically remarked that she was not surprised because her being found guilty benefitted both SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE.
“I’m not very surprised because they’ve resurrected in the last two-three weeks the [statements about] trained donkeys”, the ex-Agency head noted.
Her stand is that it is about, as she stressed, yet another political game.
“I’ve been acquitted with regards to abuse of European funds, but on the other hand, I’ve been found guilty of not adhering to procedures related to the acts I’ve been charged with. The Judge was constantly repeating that the money that had been used in relation to what they were charging me with came from the EU’s operational money, so it’s about European money, over which I was previously acquitted in terms of that I didn’t abuse it”, Dimova explained.
When it comes to the principal in the third degree, Ana Pavlidu, she was acquitted of unscrupulous operation within the service. The trial had initially covered Aleksandar Gocev, but he confessed.
