The U.S. Department of State announced on Monday that it has designated the former First Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Artan Grubi, and the judge of the Court of Appeals, Enver Bexheti, as persons “undesirable” due to their involvement in corruption.
According to a statement from the U.S. Department of State, Mr. Grubi and Mr. Bexheti “took bribes, undermining judicial processes related to the conviction of Saso Mijalkov, the director of the Agency for Security and Intelligence of North Macedonia.”
As part of this decision, the U.S. also designated members of Mr. Grubi’s family, who is a former senior official from the ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia, the Democratic Union for Integration, as undesirable.
Former intelligence chief Mijalkov was designated as a person undesirable by the U.S. in 2022 for corruption.
Pursuant to Section 7031(c), the Department of State is publicly designating Artan Grubi and Enver Bexheti for their involvement in significant corruption by accepting bribes to undermine judicial processes tied to the criminal conviction of Sasho Mijalkov, director of North Macedonia’s Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK). Mijalkov was designated in 2022 for significant corruption under Section 7031(c), and OFAC sanctioned him pursuant to E.O. 14033. As part of this action, Grubi’s immediate family members are also designated.
These designations were made on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day. The U.S. Department of State also announced the designation of 14 individuals and their family members from various countries for involvement in corruption and, in one case, human rights violations.
“The United States is taking these actions to promote accountability for individuals involved in corruption and human rights abuses globally,” the statement from the Department of State said.
/Argumentum.al
