Greece Arrests Suspects in Macedonia's Wiretapping Scandal

After three months in hiding, Greek police have arrested two former Macedonian secret policemen, Goran Grujevski and Nikola Boskoski, wanted in Macedonia for their alleged involvement in the country's illegal wiretapping scandal.

The two men were arrested in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Wednesday under a warrant issued by Macedonia.

The Macedonian Interior Ministry on Thursday said it had not received an official note from Greece about their arrest, but, once it happens, it will make arrangements for extradition.

The two men from the secret service, the UBK, were initially indicted in two cases related to the wiretapping scandal instigated by the Special Prosecution, SJO, which has been tasked with investigating high-level crime in Macedonia.

They were among those charged with illegally wiretapping thousands of people through misuse of police surveillance systems in a case codenamed "Fortress".

They were also indicted for the destruction of one of the secret police systems that was allegedly used for the illegal surveillance in a case codenamed "Target".

The trials in these cases, which meanwhile have merged into one, has already begun in the Skopje Criminal Court.

Both men are yet to submit their pleas to the charges against them.

Grujevski and Boskoski had been on the run for three months after the Skopje Criminal Court ordered their detention on July 18.

They escaped after the court took an entire day to deliver the detention order to the police.

During this time, the detention order was released to the public, giving the two fugitives time to flee.

The delay and flight sparked suspicion that officials had helped them escape - a matter that Interior Minister Oliver...