Makedonska Banka

Zaev was found guilty on Wednesday of falsely accusing Gruevski of being involved in the corrupt sale of Makedonska Banka in 2004 to Serbian businessman Jovica Stefanovic, aka Gazda Nini (‘Boss Nini') and for allegedly accepting a bribe of 1.5 million euro to expedite the deal.

The court hearing Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s slander case against opposition Social Democrats leader Zoran Zaev refused on Monday to accept the recording of the telephone call as evidence.

It also refused to question Gruevski’s former associate Den Doncev, a potentially key witness for the defence, whose voice is also on the tape, the opposition alleges.