Nikola Gruevski

[vicsinad]

Nema greshka.

I wonder if the school teachers organized the students to await Gruevski like that, or if it was someone in Gruevski's team?

[Phoenix]

The Supreme Leader's child on her first day of school.
Note the other kid's lineup on each side to welcome the royal family and the teacher (or headmaster?) accompanying them to the school.
The only thing missing is a little girl throwing rose leaflets in front of them for them to walk on...

Sums up the many things that are wrong with Macedonian society...you can see how servility is forged into the psyche from an early age...that entitlement and privilege is for a select few and any notion of egalitarianism is beyond the reach of most...these are the attitudes that are destroying society and the potential of citizens...shame on Gruevski and the teacher involved...pity the children.

[Tomche Makedonche]

Macedonia Prosecution Seeks Ex-PM Gruevski's Arrest

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-s-prosecution-seeks-gruevski-s-arrest-06-29-2017

Macedonia Prosecution Seeks Ex-PM Gruevski's Arrest

Macedonia's Special Prosecution is seeking the arrest of VMRO DPMNE party leader and former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and several of his closest associates on electoral fraud charges

The Special Prosecution, SJO on Thursday announced charges in 17 cases, demanding the arrest of former premier Nikola Gruevski, former Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, former Transport Minister Mile Janakieski, former government secretary-general Kiril Bozinovski and Gruevski's former cabinet chief Martin Protugjer.

All of them were indicted on Thursday for masterminding and participating in an election fraud.

The SJO also demanded detention for Gruevski's cousin and former secret police chief Saso Mijalkov in relation to the cases codenamed "Target" and "Tvrdina" [fortress], former Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska Milevska in relation to the case codenamed "Tender" and former Vice Prime Minister Vladimir Pesevski, indicted in the case "Traektorija" [trajectory].

In addition, the SJO also demanded detention for the mayor of Skopje's Gazi Baba municipality, Toni Trajkovski, and for the editor of Sitel TV, Dragan Pavlovic, who is charged with tax evasion.

The SJO pressed charges in 17 cases at two days before the expiry of its July 1 deadline for raising charges.

The total number of newly-indicted people today is 94, while charges have also been raised against seven legal entities.

SJO chief Katica Janeva told a press conference in Skopje that despite the expiry of the deadline for raising charges, its work in investigating the ongoing and new cases will continue throughout the next three years, as the Law on Special Prosecution envisages.

Formed in autumn 2015 as part of an EU-sponsored crisis agreement, the SJO has so far pressed charges in 20 cases but is also working on more than 120 investigations and pre-investigation procedures.

Most of them concern officials from the former ruling VMRO DPMNE party, which took power in 2006 and last month went into opposition.

The SJO has managed in the past year-and-a-half to listen to some 45 per cent of the wiretapped conversations that the now ruling Social Democrats, SDSM handed over to it, and only a portion of those have been thoroughly analysed for possible criminal allegations.

Janeva once more expressed hope that the country's politicians will find strength to lift the deadline which starts in two days.

But parliament is unlikely to do so in near future in the face of strong VMRO DPMNE opposition.

The VMRO DPMNE, controls 51 of the 120 seats in parliament, which means that without its votes, it is impossible to muster a two-thirds majority needed to prolong the deadline

Gruevski Reacted Angrily to the Indictments

"This is a classic political and anti-Macedonian construction" aimed at taking down some 100 people from the VMRO DPMNE's top leadership, he told a press conference.

"The historical responsibility of those who are now riding on a wave of euphoria and think that this petty pleasure will last forever will soon be proven," Gruevski added, saying that his party will stop being cooperative opposition.

[DraganOfStip]

Gruevski Reacted Angrily to the Indictments

"This is a classic political and anti-Macedonian construction" aimed at taking down some 100 people from the VMRO DPMNE's top leadership, he told a press conference.

"The historical responsibility of those who are now riding on a wave of euphoria and think that this petty pleasure will last forever will soon be proven," Gruevski added, saying that his party will stop being cooperative opposition.

Grujo's press conference was a pathetic 20-minute "swan song" and meant to be a pressure towards the judges that are to rule today whether or not he and his comrades-in-crime will be placed into custody.
In case you missed the speech, I found a 12-second short summary of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r547Y7KcEYQ

[Rogi]

Dragan, this is an unsurprising political move really in a completely undemocratic state like Macedonia.

Obliterating the top brass of the party in opposition and leaving that party in tatters paves the way for an unopposed Government.

VMRO-DPMNE tried to put Zaev behind bars years ago, unsuccessfully, and now the situation is the same, in reverse. Par for the course for a country that doesn't really believe in democratic principles.


The only thing that is somewhat concerning though is, given the passive or ambivalent attitude of the Macedonian people, the destruction of a fairly strong opposition also means there will effectively be no strong voice of opposition to the things to come; and those things to come are increasingly evident.

[DraganOfStip]

Dragan, this is an unsurprising political move really in a completely undemocratic state like Macedonia.

What is? Grujo's press conference or the indictments?

Obliterating the top brass of the party in opposition and leaving that party in tatters paves the way for an unopposed Government.

I disagree. DPMNE will be the largest and therefore the strongest opposition ever in Macedonia's independence. They have 51 out of possible 120 seats in the parliament, meaning that for any decisions that will need a two-thirds majority they will have the power to stop them from passing. Also, even if some 100 people (don't know how many are indicted exactly) end up tried and jailed (something that's highly unlikely), it will not be a problem to replace them with other high profile members, having in mind DPMNE have thousands and thousands of members. If such a thing happens, they will proclaim Grujo and co. as "VMRO martyrs" and make a myth out of this whole thing, and they will be back stronger than ever.

The only thing that is somewhat concerning though is, given the passive or ambivalent attitude of the Macedonian people, the destruction of a fairly strong opposition also means there will effectively be no strong voice of opposition to the things to come; and those things to come are increasingly evident.

Like I said, that is highly unlikely considering the number of seats DPMNE currently holds. Besides, during the majority of their rule they had 2/3 majority in the parliament so it was them who ruled with practically no real opposition. How times change.

No, if you're asking me, the only concerning thing right now should be the possible "unleashing" of his hordes into a mini civil war if Grujo and co. actually end up behind bars. If you listened to his speech carefully, it was full of resentment and hate,possibly with the harshest rhetoric to date, and this was "between the lines" sending a message to his diehard supporters that can and will without a doubt cause unrests should their supreme leader be sentenced. We already witnessed what they're capable of on April 27th, and we were reminded again when yesterday they gathered in front of the court blocking the streets waiting for the judges' ruling for the possible detentions. If they ruled to detain Grujo, Mijalkov and the closest collaborators I am afraid to think what could have happened.
That is the frightening part. Using the people as your fighting tool as a last resort to save your arse from prison. And we saw he's not afraid to use them.
That is what scares me the most as a RoM resident.

[Rogi]

You downplay it as it being easy to replace the leaders from the thousands and thousands of members, I don't know what experience you have, but you are very clearly mistaking leadership with membership and underestimating the value and importance of leadership. Membership without strong leadership is ineffective.

So in your view, none of this fits into a wider ploy that leaves the opposition leaderless and thus in a state of internal turmoil (whilst maintaining the optics of being a strong opposition in parliamentary members), paving the way for changes in Macedonia that may involve a referendum process where the opposing voice is muffed due to the turmoil within the opposition - and as such, none of that is concerning to you.

[DraganOfStip]

You downplay it as it being easy to replace the leaders from the thousands and thousands of members, I don't know what experience you have, but you are very clearly mistaking leadership with membership and underestimating the value and importance of leadership. Membership without strong leadership is ineffective.

You and I just as any random Joe may not know other high-ranking DPMNE members other than those we hear about on TV/media. The fact is, many local party organizations and branches (not just DPMNE, this concerns most if not all political parties) have their own local leaders. Every village, town or even suburb have at least 2-3 prominent "chieftains" that are known to most members but hardly to anyone outside the party. These leaders may be unknown to you and me, but believe me, members know them quite well. There will be no problem for party with large support such as DPMNE to "promote" some of these local leaders into the Central Committee and come back again as the "newly reformed DPMNE" stronger than ever. Tell me, back in 2006 when Grujo came to power, other than him (who was Economy Minister in Ljubco's government) did you know any other of the new ministers? Neither did I. Grujo replaced the old "Ljubcovists" in the party with new, fresh faces that hardly anyone had heard about, but it worked out well for him didn't it? Don't underestimate DPMNE's organization, they have a replacement for every position.

So in your view, none of this fits into a wider ploy that leaves the opposition leaderless and thus in a state of internal turmoil (whilst maintaining the optics of being a strong opposition in parliamentary members), paving the way for changes in Macedonia that may involve a referendum process where the opposing voice is muffed due to the turmoil within the opposition - and as such, none of that is concerning to you.

There are several problems with this statement of yours.
First of all, with each change of governance, the party that comes to power retaliates to the one it "dethroned" exposing all their dirty laundry for everyone to see. It's a remnant from the previous system that had zero tolerance to those not thinking alike, but the people here are used to it and it only shows how we're still not using the democracy we obtained back in '91. We've seen this with several ministers and office holders from Ljubco's government when SDS came back in power (Lambe Arnaudov, Dragan Daravelski, Ljuben Paunovski etc to name a few), then again when Grujo came to power (most notable example Vlado Buckovski), and now it is the same process over again. So,this is not something new like you're presenting it to be. Now, unfortunately for Grujo his entire CC has been caught on tape implicating them in serious crimes, meaning this time around more heads will roll than expected. That is the only difference.
Secondly, their number of seats in the parliament guarantees that no constitution-changing laws and decisions will pass, because Zajko doesn't have the required 2/3 majority. Which is the complete opposite of almost all of the previous 11 years of DPMNE's reign where they enjoyed a 2/3 majority and could do whatever they wanted unopposed.
Thirdly, even if any decision comes down to a referendum, the people will stop it by a simple vote of "NAY". And when national interests are in question, no true Macedonian (of any political affiliation) will ever vote for a name change, Albanian as second-official in the entire territory etc etc. I guarantee that.
And last but not the least, yes I am worried of what the future holds for Macedonia, but as i have said whether it's DPMNE or SDSM it makes no difference for us here in RoM, recent history has shown that. We have accomplished virtually nothing in the past 26 years as an independent state. But what I am even more worried about is, as I had stressed out in my previous post, someone turning Macedonians onto each other in order to save their arse from jail. Someone willing to unleash his dark hordes of fanatics to cause incidents that can easily ignite the gunpowder and begin a fratricidal war as a last resort for escaping justice. We've seen all the signs of this happening on several occasions since the start of 2017. This is what worries me.

[Tomche Makedonche]

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ousted-macedonian-pm-risks-years-behind-bars-06-30-2017

Ousted Macedonian PM Risks Years Behind Bars

Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski could spend up to 27 years in jail if found guilty in all five cases raised against him by the Special Prosecution

The head of the right-wing VMRO DPMNE party and former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski could face up to 27 years in jail if he is found guilty in all five cases for which he is indicted by the special prosecution, SJO.

Before the SJO’s July 1 deadline to press charges expires, it indicted Gruevski in five cases codenamed “TNT”, “Titanic”, “Traektorija” [trajectory] “Tank” and one dubbed "Shamari" [slapping].

In the first case, codenamed “TNT”, the SJO has indicted Gruevski for “misuse of office”, for which the maximum sentence is three years in jail.

In this case, he is suspected of ordering the demolition of a building that was being constructed by his former political ally, Fijat Canovski, as an act of political retaliation after Canovski’s small party, the Party for European Future, PEI, quit the former ruling coalition led by Gruevski.

The second case, codenamed “Titanic”, is far more complex and indicts Gruevski and other top-ranking VMRO DPMNE officials for allegedly masterminding electoral fraud in 2013.

In this case, Gruevski is charged on three accounts: criminal association, for which he is faces a jail sentence from one to five years; misuse of assets during an election campaign, for which the lowest sentence is five years; violation of the freedom of voters, for which the minimum jail sentence is three years.

In the third case, codenamed, “Traektorija”, Gruevski is indicted for receiving an award for unlawful influence for which the law envisages a jail sentence of one to three years.

In this case, the SJO has indicted Gruevski and several of his associates who are believed to have broken the Public Procurement Law by awarding a 570-million-euro contract to construct two highway stretches to a preferred Chinese construction company.

In the fourth case, “Tank”, Gruevski faces an identical indictment to that in “Traektorija”, which may add another one to three years of jail time, if he is found guilty.

This case centres on the purchase of a 575,000 euro luxury limousine that was allegedly obtained to satisfy Gruevski’s personal wishes.

In addition, Gruevski is already on trial in a fifth case dubbed "Shamari" where he is accused of ordering an attack on an opposition mayor and his municipality HQ in 2013. He is indicted of enticement of a criminal act against public order for which the sentence is from six months to five years in jail.

By adding the maximum jail sentences in all of these cases together, theoretically, could Gruevski face up to 27 years in jail.

He also remains the main suspect in at least one other large and complex investigation that the SJO launched in May 22 under the codename “Talir” [silver coin].In this, Gruevski and ten other VMRO DPMNE members are suspected of illegally financing the former ruling party through money laundering.

Chief Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva on Thursday said the SJO would not be raising indictments in this case for now, but would continue to investigate it.

“A one-month period was simply too little to investigate all suspicions in relation to this case, which took place over an eight-year period,” Janeva said.

She expressed hope that, after the SJO deadline to raise indictments expires, the case would one way or another be eventually processed in court.

This could happen either through parliament extending the SJO’s deadline or by the regular prosecution, which has no deadlines for pressing indictments, taking the case over.

After Thursdays' press conference at which the SJO launched charges against 94 people in relation to 17 cases, Gruevski - whose party was in power from 2006 until this May - countered that his party was under attack by anti-patriotic forces.

“This is a classic political and anti-Macedonian construction”, aimed at taking down some 100 people from the VMRO DPMNE leadership, he told a press conference.

“The historic responsibility of those who are now riding on a wave of euphoria and think this petty pleasure will last forever will soon be tested,” Gruevski added, saying that his party would also stop being a cooperative opposition

[Solun]

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/arti...ars-06-30-2017

Ousted Macedonian PM Risks Years Behind Bars

Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski could spend up to 27 years in jail if found guilty in all five cases raised against him by the Special Prosecution

The head of the right-wing VMRO DPMNE party and former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski could face up to 27 years in jail if he is found guilty in all five cases for which he is indicted by the special prosecution, SJO.

Before the SJO’s July 1 deadline to press charges expires, it indicted Gruevski in five cases codenamed “TNT”, “Titanic”, “Traektorija” [trajectory] “Tank” and one dubbed "Shamari" [slapping].

In the first case, codenamed “TNT”, the SJO has indicted Gruevski for “misuse of office”, for which the maximum sentence is three years in jail.

In this case, he is suspected of ordering the demolition of a building that was being constructed by his former political ally, Fijat Canovski, as an act of political retaliation after Canovski’s small party, the Party for European Future, PEI, quit the former ruling coalition led by Gruevski.

The second case, codenamed “Titanic”, is far more complex and indicts Gruevski and other top-ranking VMRO DPMNE officials for allegedly masterminding electoral fraud in 2013.

In this case, Gruevski is charged on three accounts: criminal association, for which he is faces a jail sentence from one to five years; misuse of assets during an election campaign, for which the lowest sentence is five years; violation of the freedom of voters, for which the minimum jail sentence is three years.

In the third case, codenamed, “Traektorija”, Gruevski is indicted for receiving an award for unlawful influence for which the law envisages a jail sentence of one to three years.

In this case, the SJO has indicted Gruevski and several of his associates who are believed to have broken the Public Procurement Law by awarding a 570-million-euro contract to construct two highway stretches to a preferred Chinese construction company.

In the fourth case, “Tank”, Gruevski faces an identical indictment to that in “Traektorija”, which may add another one to three years of jail time, if he is found guilty.

This case centres on the purchase of a 575,000 euro luxury limousine that was allegedly obtained to satisfy Gruevski’s personal wishes.

In addition, Gruevski is already on trial in a fifth case dubbed "Shamari" where he is accused of ordering an attack on an opposition mayor and his municipality HQ in 2013. He is indicted of enticement of a criminal act against public order for which the sentence is from six months to five years in jail.

By adding the maximum jail sentences in all of these cases together, theoretically, could Gruevski face up to 27 years in jail.

He also remains the main suspect in at least one other large and complex investigation that the SJO launched in May 22 under the codename “Talir” [silver coin].In this, Gruevski and ten other VMRO DPMNE members are suspected of illegally financing the former ruling party through money laundering.

Chief Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva on Thursday said the SJO would not be raising indictments in this case for now, but would continue to investigate it.

“A one-month period was simply too little to investigate all suspicions in relation to this case, which took place over an eight-year period,” Janeva said.

She expressed hope that, after the SJO deadline to raise indictments expires, the case would one way or another be eventually processed in court.

This could happen either through parliament extending the SJO’s deadline or by the regular prosecution, which has no deadlines for pressing indictments, taking the case over.

After Thursdays' press conference at which the SJO launched charges against 94 people in relation to 17 cases, Gruevski - whose party was in power from 2006 until this May - countered that his party was under attack by anti-patriotic forces.

“This is a classic political and anti-Macedonian construction”, aimed at taking down some 100 people from the VMRO DPMNE leadership, he told a press conference.

“The historic responsibility of those who are now riding on a wave of euphoria and think this petty pleasure will last forever will soon be tested,” Gruevski added, saying that his party would also stop being a cooperative opposition

Dragan can you tell us more about what happened to the charges SJO sought over members of DUI? How is it possible that SJO could drop such charges (and maintain any credibility) immediately upon DUI forming coalition with Zaev?

Also can you tell us if SJO has sought charges over a single person at SDS?

Is there a human being more capable than Zaev? He holds a business empire larger than any other politician in Macedonia, an empire built through complete virtue and honesty

[Pelagonija]

Dragan can you tell us more about what happened to the charges SJO sought over members of DUI? How is it possible that SJO could drop such charges (and maintain any credibility) immediately upon DUI forming coalition with Zaev?

Also can you tell us if SJO has sought charges over a single person at SDS?

Is there a human being more capable than Zaev? He holds a business empire larger than any other politician in Macedonia, an empire built through complete virtue and honesty

The law doesnt apply to the murderous thugs of DUI. But that's ok as long as Gruo goes to prison and we all live happily ever after..

And as someone else stated, Macedonians are passive in all this hence don't even bother pretending to be a state.

A nation of inaat..

[DraganOfStip]

Dragan can you tell us more about what happened to the charges SJO sought over members of DUI? How is it possible that SJO could drop such charges (and maintain any credibility) immediately upon DUI forming coalition with Zaev?

Which DUI charges have been dropped? As far as I know there were 2 DUI members that were under investigation (can't remember their names), both of them had their detentions denied by the court just like most of the other suspects. So which charges are you referring to and to which people?

Also can you tell us if SJO has sought charges over a single person at SDS?

Not that I'm aware of, and there is a perfectly logical explanation why - the SJO got the tapped conversations from Zajko, do you honestly believe he would hand them over materials that can implicate him or anyone else from his party in schemes? Think again.
If there were such tapes, Zajko has surely destroyed them or at least stashed them somewhere safe by now.

Is there a human being more capable than Zaev?

I'll take that as sarcasm, If I'm mistaken please correct me. He has proven to be a cunning fox (something I assume any politician has to be in order to survive in politics), he took his opportunity and won support even with his "edno evro za Viceto" and the "blackmail to Grujo" videos becoming public. This is probably outmatched by Grujo managing to convince 400 000 people that all these recordings are fake and he and his associates are angels and perfectly clean of any wrongdoing. When 2 people caught scheming on tape (video or audio) manage to win 75% of all votes in democratic elections, that tells a lot about the people of that country.

He holds a business empire larger than any other politician in Macedonia, an empire built through complete virtue and honesty

Building a business empire in post-communist countries is never a result of virtue and honesty, but I appreciate the sarcasm.

But this right here is what you should pay attention to:

Gruevski - whose party was in power from 2006 until this May - countered that his party was under attack by anti-patriotic forces.

“This is a classic political and anti-Macedonian construction, aimed at taking down some 100 people from the VMRO DPMNE leadership”, he told a press conference.

“The historic responsibility of those who are now riding on a wave of euphoria and think this petty pleasure will last forever will soon be tested,” Gruevski added, saying that his party would also stop being a cooperative opposition

That right there my friend, is an outright threat that if anything happens to him in this process, there will be consequences. It is at the same time a call for "stand by" to his fanatic hordes, that he might need them again just like the counterprotests, the April 27th events, or the other day's blocking of the court in the wake of rulings for detentions in SJO's cases. Make no mistake, this is a man that will not hesitate to order another heavy incident that can ignite the powder keg just to save his own arse.

[Solun]

Which DUI charges have been dropped? As far as I know there were 2 DUI members that were under investigation (can't remember their names), both of them had their detentions denied by the court just like most of the other suspects. So which charges are you referring to and to which people?

I assumed you'd know exactly what I was referring to so I'll try and get hold of relevant information. Maybe I've listened to too many Kasami interviews

Not that I'm aware of, and there is a perfectly logical explanation why - the SJO got the tapped conversations from Zajko, do you honestly believe he would hand them over materials that can implicate him or anyone else from his party in schemes? Think again.
If there were such tapes, Zajko has surely destroyed them or at least stashed them somewhere safe by now.


I'll take that as sarcasm, If I'm mistaken please correct me. He has proven to be a cunning fox (something I assume any politician has to be in order to survive in politics), he took his opportunity and won support even with his "edno evro za Viceto" and the "blackmail to Grujo" videos becoming public. This is probably outmatched by Grujo managing to convince 400 000 people that all these recordings are fake and he and his associates are angels and perfectly clean of any wrongdoing. When 2 people caught scheming on tape (video or audio) manage to win 75% of all votes in democratic elections, that tells a lot about the people of that country.


Building a business empire in post-communist countries is never a result of virtue and honesty, but I appreciate the sarcasm.

But this right here is what you should pay attention to:

That right there my friend, is an outright threat that if anything happens to him in this process, there will be consequences. It is at the same time a call for "stand by" to his fanatic hordes, that he might need them again just like the counterprotests, the April 27th events, or the other day's blocking of the court in the wake of rulings for detentions in SJO's cases. Make no mistake, this is a man that will not hesitate to order another heavy incident that can ignite the powder keg just to save his own arse.

Agreed with your thoughts on whether this would be a good outcome

[Tomche Makedonche]

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/decision-not-to-detain-macedonia-s-former-pm-appealed-07-04-2017

Prosecutors Renew Pressure for Macedonia Ex-PM’s Arrest

Macedonia's Special Prosecution is challenging a court decision not to arrest former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and some of his closest associates who are charged with high-level crimes

Within the next few days, Macedonia's Court of Appeals will review the decisions made by Skopje's Criminal Court not to allow the detention of Gruevski and some of his associates.

The Special Prosecution, SJO said on Tuesday it will start filing appeals against the Criminal Court's decisions on Wednesday.

By law, the Appeals Court has two days to hand down its judgments on the appeals.

Skopje's Criminal Court on Monday rejected the demands filed by the SJO for the arrest and detention of former premier Gruevski, former Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, former Transport Minister Mile Janakieski and former government secretary-generals Kiril Bozinovski and Martin Protugjer.

They have been indicted by the SJO on electoral fraud charges.

The court decided instead to take passports of the indicted former ruling VMRO DPMNE party members, and ordered them to report to the authorities once a week.

The court passed the same ruling in the case of Gruevski's cousin, former secret police chief Saso Mijalkov who is indicted in relation to cases codenamed ‘Target’ and ‘Tvrdina’ [‘Fortress’], former Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska Milevska who is indicted in relation to a case codenamed ‘Tender’ and former Vice Prime Minister Vladimir Pesevski, indicted in a case known as ‘Traektorija’ [‘Trajectory’].

Professor Gordana Buzarovska-Lazetic, one of the authors of the Criminal Procedure Law, said that the court's decisions were too lenient considering the past practice of the same court to accept detention for much less series charges.

"Bearing in mind the capacity of the judges that are left in the Criminal Court, I am not surprised at all by their decisions," Buzarovska-Lazetic said in an interview with ‘360 Degrees’, a TV politics show.

"This only strengthens the notion that we do not have a solid judiciary," she said, adding that if the country is to reform its justice system, some of the judges in these cases may even face charges of obstruction of justice.

The SJO last Thursday pressed charges in 17 cases. The total number of newly-indicted people was 94, while charges have also been raised against seven legal entities.

The SJO demanded detention for 18 people in relation to these cases but the Criminal Court rejected all of them.

The former ruling VMRO DPMNE party, which stayed in power from 2006 until May this year, accuses the Social Democrats, SDSM, who are now in power, of using the SJO to press charges against its senior members for political reasons

[DraganOfStip]

I assumed you'd know exactly what I was referring to so I'll try and get hold of relevant information.

Ran into this today, the SJO again demands detention for DUI member Ejup Allumi, suspected in the case Titanic for destroying electoral material, because he could potentially influence the witnesses.
He and another DUI member,Ismet Guri got away with only their passports revoked instead of detention as the SJO requested. Their case is now in the Court of Appeals where SJO again requests detention:

http://tv21.tv/mk/%D1%81%D1%98%D0%BE-%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B5%D1%98%D1%83%D0%BF-%D0%B0%D1%99%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8/