Johan Tarculovski

Although five potential war crimes cases were initially investigated by the North Macedonia's authorities in 2002, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, then took over the cases.

Several hundred people led by Gruevski and other high-ranking VMRO DPMNE party members protested on Tuesday amid a heavy police presence in front of the Skopje Criminal Court, where the suspects who were arrested in the morning were taken before a judge.

The wife of the only Macedonian war crimes convict, Johan Tarculovski, confirmed receiving payments from the government of 5,000 euros a month during the eight years her husband spent in jail abroad.

Former policeman Johan Tarculovski has entered parliament after being elected as MP in the country's second electoral unit that covers parts of Macedonia's north-east but also parts of capital Skopje.

The ruling VMRO DPMNE party has nominated Johan Tarculovski, the only Macedonian convicted by the Hague war crimes tribunal, as a candidate in parliamentary elections on December 11.