Fresh protests rock Macedonia as outrage grows over wiretap pardons

SKOPJE: Thousands took to the streets of the Macedonian capital for a third consecutive evening Thursday to protest against the president’s shock decision to halt probes into more than 50 public figures embroiled in a wiretapping scandal.

The demonstrators, many of them supporters of the main opposition SDSM party, whistled and chanted “Resignation!” and “No justice, no peace!” an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Similar anti-government protests in the capital had turned violent on Wednesday, when demonstrators ransacked the offices used by President Gjorge Ivanov’s team and set fire to the furniture.

“We will not give up,” 53-year old protester Jasmina Stojkovska Simonovic told AFP, adding that she wanted the president “to reverse his decision (on the probe) or resign.”

SDSM leader Zoran Zaev, who joined the latest protests, had earlier called for calm and AFP reporters late Thursday said the demos appeared to pass off without any serious incidents. Fresh protests have been called for yesterday.

The tension sin Macedonia come after the president on Tuesday said he had ended a judicial inquiry into the wiretapping controversy, granting a mass amnesty to dozens of people implicated who were facing corruption allegations.

The move sparked condemnation at home and abroad, with the United States and the European Union warning it raised questions about the rule of law in Macedonia and could hurt the nation’s aspirations to join the 28-member EU.

Ivanov remained defiant and said in an interview Thursday, broadcast live on national television, that his main motive was to put an end to the political crisis.

“As president, it is my responsibility to end the crisis that has lasted for too long,” he said.

Macedonia’s political woes began last year when the SDSM accused then prime minister Nikola Gruevski of wiretapping some 20,000 people, including politicians and journalists, and said the recordings revealed high-level corruption.

The government denied the accusations and in return filed charges against Zaev, accusing him of ‘spying’ and attempting to ‘destabilise’ the Balkan country.

The original scandal triggered protests in Skopje, eventually prompting the EU to step in and mediate. — AFP