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Artan Grubi retired from politics after being blacklisted by the US

Politiko 2024-12-12 13:11:16

Three days after being blacklisted by the US, former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Artan Grubi, announced late Wednesday that he has decided to retire from politics and public life.

In a Facebook post, Grubi, from the opposition Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), said that he had informed his party leader, Ali Ahmeti, of this decision “from day one.”

“I am as pure as a tear before God, my family and friends, but with the aim of shedding light on the truth, which I see many of you already know, and in order not to be a political burden, I have decided to retire from public life and I have informed Chairman Ahmeti of this from day one,” Grubi wrote.

He also stressed that “the major attacks over the years, the misinterpretations and the unjust attacks” have pushed him to make such a decision.

“This is a difficult decision, but necessary to save my family and preserve my personal and political integrity, as well as to support the continuity of the work and dedication of our leader, Ali Ahmeti.”

Ali Ahmeti said in Skopje on Wednesday that his party does not intend to contest the decisions of the US State Department.

Ahmeti praised Grubi as a “responsible and conscientious” person and added that there is no need for his expulsion from the party, as “he will withdraw from all party functions on his own.”

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Skopje announced on Wednesday that it has launched an investigation against former Deputy Prime Minister Grubi, who is also Ahmeti’s former chief of staff, and Appeals Court judge Enver Bexheti, on suspicions of their involvement in “high-level corruption.”

Chief Prosecutor Ljubco Kocevski announced that the aim of the investigation is to establish whether there is criminal liability for Grubi and Bexheti, after the US State Department accused them of being “involved in high-level corruption and accepting bribes to obstruct” the judicial processes related to the conviction of Sasho Mijalkov, former director of the Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence (DSK).

Grubi has denied being involved in corruption.

The US State Department’s decision on Grubi and Bexheti comes about a month after the US Ambassador to Skopje, Angela Ageler, warned of expanding the blacklist to include other individuals suspected of crime and corruption in North Macedonia.

During this year, in addition to Grubi, who was Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia from the ranks of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) during the previous 2020-2024 mandate, and Judge Enver Bexheti, the former prosecutor of the Special Court, Katica Janeva, and the mayor of Karposh, Stevço Jakimovski, have also been included in the American blacklist.

Meanwhile, in 2023, the US expanded the blacklist, adding the mayor of Struga, Ramis Merkon, former deputy prime minister, Koço Angjushev, and businessman, Orce Kamchev, due to their involvement in "high-profile corruption."

Also on the blacklist are the former director of the secret police, Sasho Mijalkov, former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, Menduh Thaçi, former MP Xhevat Ademi , former Minister of Internal Affairs, Lube Boskovski, and several other figures./ REL