Mickoski misses court hearing in Ristoska defamation case

North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski failed to appear at the Basic Civil Court in Skopje for a hearing regarding a defamation lawsuit filed by former public prosecutor Lenche Ristoska. Mickoski, acting as the legal representative for the VMRO-DPMNE party, was summoned to testify about party communications that Ristoska claims attacked her personal and professional integrity.

Ristoska is seeking 300,000 denars in damages, alleging that the party issued 18 statements targeting her while she was prosecuting cases involving the party's interests, specifically the ‘Talir 1’ and ‘Talir 2’ cases. She characterized the Prime Minister’s absence as a ‘disrespect to the court,’ noting he had months to coordinate his schedule.

Mickoski’s lawyer, Ruzhica Nikolovska, stated that the Prime Minister could not attend due to urgent official duties and emphasized that his personal presence was not legally mandatory. Despite his absence, Ristoska provided testimony regarding the content of the communications, which she claims included falsehoods and threats to her career.