Prosecutors ordered out of Organized Crime Prosecution

The TOK is supposed to have 25 of its own prosecutors but has just 9 of its own and 11 on detachment. Under the recently adopted set of judiciary laws, all prosecutors on temporary assignment have to return to their original offices within 30 days of the laws coming into force and that deadline expires at midnight on March 9. The VST decision leaves the TOK even more under-staffed. The political opposition and law experts have warned that this could happen because the TOK has indicted several ranking state officials.

The VST session was the last chance to keep the prosecutors on temporary assignment in TOK. The regime reacted to criticism of the set of laws from the public, experts and the European Commission suggesting that the temporary assignments could be extended by 3 years at most under the new law.