Macedonia’s former First Deputy Prime Minister and co-defendant in the State Lottery case Artan Grubi is set to be released from house arrest Tuesday as his maximum legal detention period has ended. In the meantime, his defense team has forwarded a request to the court to lift the additional precautionary measures; real estate valued at €335,707 has been offered as bail that he will remain available to law enforcement authorities throughout the criminal proceedings.
In addition to house arrest, measures had been imposed on Artan Grubi requiring the temporary surrender of his travel document and prohibiting the issuance of any travel or other document for crossing the state border. The indictment proposal initiating the criminal case was filed on October 13, 2026. Pursuant to Article 470 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, detention may last for a maximum of 60 days from the date the indictment proposal is filed. Therefore, as previously indicated, and as emphasized by the presiding judge, the measure of house arrest for this defendant expires by operation of law on October 13, 2026. Furthermore, in addition to the house arrest measure, an additional precautionary measure has been imposed on the defendant, specifically the temporary confiscation of his travel document and a prohibition on the issuance of a travel document or other document for crossing the state border, which will remain in effect even after the statutory 60-day period expires. Regarding this precautionary measure, the defense forwarded a proposal to the court requesting its revocation in exchange for the posting of bail, in line with Article 150 of the Law on Criminal Procedure. The defense offered real estate valued at 335,707 euros as a bail that the defendant would remain available to law enforcement authorities throughout the criminal proceedings. Following the offer of bail, a separate case file was opened and submitted to the competent public prosecutor’s office for an opinion. Upon receipt of that opinion, the Criminal Council will act on the proposal and inform the public, the Skopje Basic Criminal Court has said.
Criminal Court president Daniela Dimovska also recently confirmed that former First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi will not be held in house arrest as an accused person in the State Lottery case, as of October 13, 2026.