North Macedonia's fugitive ex-leader convicted anew at home
A court in North Macedonia has imposed a new prison sentence on the country’s fugitive former prime minister Nikola Gruevski
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A court in North Macedonia on Wednesday imposed a new prison sentence on the country's fugitive former prime minister Nikola Gruevski, this time a six-year term for abuse of power over the financing of his party's headquarters in the capital, Skopje.
It was the fifth conviction for Gruevski since he left office in 2016 after a decade in power. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming political persecution. Gruevski fled to Hungary in 2018 before his first sentence could be carried out and was granted asylum there.
On Wednesday, the country's Criminal Court also ordered the confiscation of Gruevski's conservative VMRO-DPMNE party's eight-story central Skopje headquarters that were built during his time in office, and of dozens of other party properties.
The court ruled that Gruevski and another former VMRO-DPMNE official misused the services of a construction company that had been heavily involved in a separate, big government-run development scheme in central Skopje. It found that the company covered the entire 7-million-euro cost of the party headquarters as a donation to VMRO-DPMNE, in breach of party financing laws.
Gruevski was first convicted in 2018, of unlawfully influencing interior ministry officials over the purchase of a luxury armored car, and sentenced to two years in prison.
In 2020, he got another 1 1/2 years in prison for orchestrating violence against his political opponents in 2013. In April 2022, he was sentenced to 7 years for using party funds to enrich himself. A new, 9-year sentence followed later that month after a court ruled that he ordered the demolition of a multi-million-euro building belonging to a political rival in Skopje in 2011.
At least one more case is pending against Gruevski, for alleged corruption, election irregularities and abuse of office. These charges stem from a wiretapping scandal that broke in 2015, when it emerged that the phone conversations of more than 20,000 people had been illegally recorded, including those of politicians, judges, police, journalists and foreign diplomats.
The scandal brought down Gruevski’s government and he lost the subsequent 2016 election to the Social Democrat opposition party.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.