Macedonia braces for more protests as crisis deepens

Macedonia braced for fresh protests on April 14 after an anti-government demonstration turned violent, following the president's shock decision to halt probes into more than 50 public figures embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal.
 
Protesters late on April 13 ransacked the offices used by President Gjorge Ivanov's team and set fire to furniture in sporadic clashes in the capital Skopje, as thousands took to the streets demanding his resignation.
 
A dozen people were arrested and one journalist was injured in the protests, a police spokesman said.
 
New protests were announced for 6 pm (1600 GMT) by supporters of the main opposition SDSM party, as well as a counter-demonstration by a pro-government group called the Association of Citizens for the Defence of Macedonia.    

Late April 13, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev urged peaceful protests, in a widening political crisis that has raised concerns in both the European Union and the United States.
 
"We have to protest calmly. I am calling on protesters to be calm," Zaev told the Telma television channel.
 
The political crisis 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, which is hoping to join the EU.
 
A special prosecutor had been probing all the allegations.
 
Ivanov's amnesty came into effect on April 13 as the presidential decree was published in the official gazette.
 
It halts proceedings against 56...