Macedonian opposition: Ex-PM’s jail sentence is ‘political’

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia’s conservative opposition party is calling an appeals court decision to uphold a two-year jail sentence against the country’s former prime minister “political prosecution.”

Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian prime minister from 2006 to 2016 and currently a VMRO party lawmaker, was sentenced in May to two years in prison for unlawfully influencing officials at the Interior Ministry over the purchase of a luxury Mercedes at an estimated cost of 600,000 euros ($691,500).

Gruevski told reporters the appeals court ruling Friday is politically motivated and he will appeal it before the Supreme Court.

A spokesman for the party, Dimce Arsovski, told The Associated Press on Saturday that “the government, which defends crime, continues with political prosecution. “