Opposition: Journalists Tapped En Masse in Macedonia

Over a hundred Macedonian journalists were wiretapped, including the editors of pro-government media as well as journalists that critique the government, opposition Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev announced on Wednesday while unveiling his fourth political "bombshell".

The six recorded conversations that Zaev published include a number of orders by politicians to publish pro-government stories in the media.

"Among those who were under biggest surveillance was one of most respected journalists in Macedonia, the editor of Fokus, Nikola Mladenov", Zaev said, adding that they would not publish the conversations of the now deceased editor.

"The materials that we received with the mark UBK show that professional critical journalists were under special surveillance," he said.

He called the latest revelations "a strong blow, because after this today nobody can have any doubts about the regime that we've been under for all these years".

According to Zaev, the system of media surveillance was implemented by the Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, his cousin, the secret service chief, Saso Mijalkov, and a few other close associates.

Gruevski: I will not allow destabilisation

Following Zaev's press conference, Prime Minister Gruevski scheduled his own press conference at which he claimed that Macedonia was a target of surveillance by foreign secret services, which the opposition had used in order to carry out a coup.

The secret service never wiretapped people outside the bounds of the law, the Prime Minister said. He added that the person named only by the initials Z.V. who is now under arrest, had his own network of agents in Macedonia and the Ministry of Interior had firm evidence for his work in the...