Katica Janeva

Another was the case codenamed "Extortion" which, ironically, landed one of her colleagues, Katica Janeva, in jail, and spelled the demise of the institution that Janeva had led, the Special Prosecution, SJO - previously admired as the herald of change in the judiciary and which had been expected to wage an uncompromising fight against top-level corruption.

North Macedonian law enforcement has placed the businessman Orce Kamcev in 30 days' detention in Shutka prison near Skopje, on the request of the Organised Crime Prosecution, which said there was a risk he might flee the country.

The prosecution on Sunday said it requested his detention after receiving "info from the National Security Agency that he might be preparing an escape".

The two defendants claim they are victims of a masterful operation to discredit the Special Prosecution, SJO, which Janeva once headed, and rescue those that the SJO had once prosecuted.

The prosecution, on the other hand, claim that Jovanovski, aka "Boki 13", and Janeva, had been greedy to get hold of the money of one of the wealthiest people in the country.

In the ongoing court case that has gripped North Macedonia, codenamed Extortion, Prosecutor Ivana Trajceva on Tuesday presented messages that the main suspect, the showman-turned-businessman Bojan Jovanovski, sent to the Prime Minister, among other people, found in his seized electronic devices.

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 Vevcani carnival began on Monday in the village of Vevcani in the west of North Macedonia, with more traditional participants wearing masks depicting ghouls, goblins and devils, in accordance with the ancient belief that the noise and chaos they create will scare away evil spirits.

Katica Janeva, currently under house arrest awaiting trial on charges of receiving bribes, received more than 150,000 euros in bonuses and expenses on top of her still-secret official salary, according to data dug up by BIRN from a database of budget expenditures between 2010 and 2017.

The Appeals Court in Skopje spoke out on Wednesday in defence of judges who approved the conditional release from prison of the country's former chief special prosecutor Katica Janeva, after the prosecutor leading the case threatened to have them investigated for foul play.

The 'Extortion' scandal has rocked the government of Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and undermined the credibility of the country's anti-corruption drive.

It erupted in July when businessman Bojan Jovanovski and alleged accomplice Zoran Milevski were arrested on suspicion of extorting money from another businessman, Orce Kamcev.

The parliamentary commission in North Macedonia on appointments and dismissals at Thursday's closed session unanimously supported the dismissal of the suspended chief of the Special Prosecution, Katica Janeva, who has been detained in relation to the "Extortion" scandal. All 13 MP members of the commission voted for her dismissal.