Janeva’s Pricey Sofa Appears in North Macedonia “Extortion” Trial

As the high-profile "Extortion" trial continued in North Macedonia on Wednesday, a witness recalled the furnishings obtained by the now-disgraced head of the Special Prosecution Office, SJO, Katica Janeva.

The leather sofa and accompanying furniture seized during the arrest of the former chief Special Prosecutor in August were personally picked by showman-turned-businessman Bojan Jovanovski - and his private 1TV station was supposed to pay the 5000-euro bill, but never did, the manager of the furniture company testified.

Lidija Mladenovic, manager of Zona Mebel, recognised the seized furniture among the photo evidence shown on Wednesday in the court, adding that the bill for them was never paid.

In the trial in North Macedonia, Jovanovski, alias Boki 13, is the first accused while former Chief Special Prosecutor Janeva is the second.

Janeva is charged with misuse of office and faces at least three years in jail if convicted. Jovanovski is charged with taking bribes and with money-laundering, and faces up to ten years in jail for taking bribes, plus up to ten more years for money-laundering.

Some media outlets have called it the "trial of the year", mainly because Janeva, ironically, formerly ran the office that was established to stamp out high-level crime.

Locally famous quiz show host Lila Filipovska, a former close friend of Jovanovski's, also testified in the court on Wednesday.

Insisting that they were no longer friends, Filipovska was in the same vehicle along with two other persons when Jovanovski was arrested last summer near a border crossing with neighbouring Greece.

While media speculated that Jovanovski had been arrested while trying to flee the country, Filipovska insisted that they were only going on...