SDSM has filed criminal charges against Health Minister Sasho Klekovski, the director of the Institute of Public Health Marija Andonovska, the director of the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate (DSZI), Kiril Lazov, and Shpendi Ameti, director of the Center for Public Health (CPH) in Tetovo. The reason for the criminal charges is the water pollution in Gostivar.
"More than a month has passed, the entire city of Gostivar was poisoned with polluted water. Almost 5.000 citizens ended up in hospital. A health catastrophe and a total collapse of institutions."
There has been no accountability from the government, from the health institutions so far. From no one. And there is not even clean water in Gostivar. For four weeks, Mickoski's government has been playing with the most precious thing - people's health.
The Public Prosecutor's Office is silent, ignoring calls to take concrete steps. We will not allow this. We will not allow this to be covered up. Those responsible for the health disaster, for poisoning an entire city and endangering the health of 5.000 people must bear responsibility, political and criminal. Responsibility cannot be reduced to the local level only, all those involved must be held accountable.
SDSM today filed a criminal complaint for all systemic failures, failures to act, and failure to assume legal responsibilities by health and inspection institutions. There are well-founded suspicions that in the period from June 2026 to the present, as officials or responsible persons in the institutions they manage, they have not taken actions and measures to protect health and prevent the consequences of water pollution in Gostivar. They have not adhered to the regulations for the protection of people and the environment. The reactions were delayed, for 22 days the citizens of Gostivar drank poisonous water with feces, until the Public Health Center announced that the water was safe to drink.
Although 200 citizens reported health problems every day for 5 days, no one took any action to determine the cause or react. The declaration of the epidemic was also delayed. Information about the water was hidden from citizens, no analysis or report was ever published.
All these failures to act have led to serious and severe consequences for the health of the citizens of Gostivar. By doing so, the defendants have committed several criminal offenses that are being prosecuted ex officio.
"There is no greater scandal, nor greater irresponsibility than this kind of playing with the lives of citizens. We call on the Public Prosecutor's Office to act, to take all measures to establish the facts and evidence for the allegations in this criminal complaint," said Jon Frchkoski from SDSM.
