Saso Mijalkov

Nikola Gruevski, who was tried in absentia, was found guilty at Skopje Criminal Court on Thursday of unlawfully acquiring over 1.3 million euros from his former ruling VMRO DPMNE party, and of instigating a money-laundering scheme to cover his tracks and buy property with the proceeds.

North Macedonia's Organised Crime Prosecution on Wednesday filed charges against the country's fugitive former prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, and some of his former close associates, in a high-profile case linked to the illicit purchase of building sites.

The Criminal Court in Skopje found Saso Mijalkov guilty in a first-instance verdict on Tuesday of abuse of office and authority for the illicit purchase of surveillance equipment under the former authoritarian regime led by the secret police chief's cousin, Nikola Gruevski.

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".

In a first-instance verdict, the Skopje Criminal Court on Friday found the former head of the secret police, Saso Mijalkov, guilty on all three accounts, of criminal association, abuse of office and receiving a reward for illegal influence, handing him a jail sentence of 12 years.

After North Macedonia's government was savaged over the reported disapearance of the notorious ex-secret police chief Saso Mijalkov - days ahead of the verdict in his latest trial - Mijalkov's casual reappearance on Tuesday has added insult to injury.

Authorities in North Macedonia confirmed on Monday that they have issued a national arrest warrant for former secret police chief Saso Mijalkov, after police fruitlessly tried to find him at several locations in the capital, Skopje, on Sunday evening, to escort him to house detention on court orders. The authorities are expected to issue an international arrest warrant as well.

Macedonia's former chief of the secret police, Saso Mijalkov, who is currently on trial in several high-profile court cases, was detained on Tuesday evening and given a 30-day detention, the Skopje Criminal Court confirmed.

Macedonian businessman Orce Kamcev and former secret police chief Saso Mijalkov are among 13 persons suspected of a series of crimes, as part of a new investigation launched by the country's Special Prosecution, codenamed "Empire".

A Greek court in Thessaloniki has aproved a Macedonian request for the extradition of two former secret police employees linked to the wiretapping scandal that brought down Macedonia's previous government.

The two former police officers, Goran Grujevski and Nikola Boskoski, have claimed that their lives might be in danger if they are extradited to Macedonia.