Macedonia Police Suppress Anti-Government Protest

Rights groups and NGOs alleged that police used excessive force when they deployed tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades to disperse thousands of angry protesters gathered in front of the government HQ on Tuesday evening.

At least 20 protesters and police officers were injured during the unrest, and several cars were damaged, police said.

Dozens of people were arrested as the long-running political crisis between the Macedonian government and the opposition escalated significantly.

The protest began after the opposition Social Democrats on Tuesday afternoon aired alleged wiretapped telephone recordings of police minister Gordna Jankuloska, prime minister Nikola Gruevski and other top officials, allegedly showing that they plotted to cover up official responsibility for the high profile murder of a young man, Martin Neskovski, by a policeman on June 6, 2011.

Angry protesters, including Neskoski's mother and brother started gathering in front of the government in the afternoon, demanding the resignation of Jankuloska and the government. The crowd, apparently assisted by a sympathetic police officer who left his guard post, initially broke through a police barricade and was stopped at only few metres from the government building's main entrance.

Inside the government building at the same time, Jankuloska was holding a press conference to repeat the government line that the tapes were cut, edited and created by unnamed "foreign secret services" in collaboration with the opposition in order to destabilise the country. She said she was not planning to resign.

The demonstration in front of the government lasted until late in the evening as protesters, joined by human rights activists, lowered flags in front of the...