Balkans | President Bendarovski signed the decree on the law on amnesty for provisions of the epidemiological period

North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski signed the decree on the new amnesty law, which covers penalties in the COVID-19 outbreak.

President Stevo Pendarovski today signed the Decree on Amnesty for Persons Convicted of the Crimes of Section 205 of the Penal Code entitled “Infection of a contagious disease” and Section 206 of “Failure to comply with health regulations during an epidemic.”

During the period from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022, 1,223 people were fined 123,000 dinars. If the fines stipulated in the legal regulations are not met within two years, they shall be converted into a prison sentence by a decision of the execution judge. The Criminal Court of First Instance decided to sentence 280 people to prison instead of a fine for not paying the fine. Following the same decisions, 205 referral orders were issued to serve prison sentences.

The need to regulate this situation arose from the large number of such cases before the Skopje Criminal Court of First Instance.

The law does not provide for amnesty for legal persons and those responsible for legal persons sentenced to final fines for offenses stipulated in Articles 205 and 206 of the Penal Code.

Amnesty exists and is practiced in many European countries, and various amnesty laws have been enacted since the independence of our country.