Former Macedonian PM Gruevski sentenced to two years in prison
Nikola Gruevski found guilty of unlawfully influencing officials in purchase of a €600,000 car.
Nikola Gruevski, Macedonia's former prime minister, arrives at a courthouse in Skopje on January 24, 2018 | Robert Atanasovski/AFP via Getty Images
By Yasmine Salam
A court sentenced former Macedonian Prime Minster Nikola Gruevski to two years in prison on Wednesday for unlawfully influencing interior ministry officials in the purchase of a luxury vehicle.
The court found that Gruevski had influenced officials in 2012 in the purchase of a bulletproof Mercedes, which cost about €600,000, according to the Associated Press.
Gruevski was not in court when the verdict was announced and will remain free pending an appeal.
The 47-year-old served as prime minister for 10 years between 2006 and 2016 before he stepped down over a phone-tapping scandal in which senior members of his government and security services had been listening in to phone calls of judges, journalists and members of the opposition.
The court decision on Wednesday was based in part on audio material from the phone-tapping scandal, which dates back to 2015, after the judge had determined the evidence was admissible because it was in the public interest.
The car purchase case also involves former Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, who served under Gruevski until his resignation, according to Greek newspaper Kathimerini. Jankuloska's case is being tried separately from Gruevski and is still ongoing.
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Corruption	Court decisions	National Politics
Nikola Gruevski