The Skopje Criminal Court rejected the charges against Dragan Pavlovic – Latas, former editor in chief of Sitel TV and one of Macedonia’s most recognizable news anchors.

The charges against Latas were filed during the Colored Revolution, by the completely partisan SPO office of state prosecutors who targeted officials from the VMRO-DPMNE led Government which Latas strongly supported. The charge was of tax evasion, that was allegedly done through false invoices exchanged between several marketing companies that he owns. The prosecution against Pavlovic was used to remove him and other well known journalists who were critical of SDSM from the air, paving the way for the Zaev regime to grab power and impose the name change on Macedonia.

While the SPO put the amount of damages to the public budget to over 100,000 EUR, prosecutors now reviewed the case and estimated that the amount was far lower. With this, the case, which goes back almost 20 years, reached the statute of limitations and the court threw out the charges.