Katica Janeva

Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva told a brief press conference in Skopje on Tuesday that she was not involved in any way in the alleged extortion attempt which regular prosecutors started probing last week.

One of North Macedonia's deputy chief special prosecutors, Lence Ristoska, told an impromptu press conference on Tuesday that she and the rest of the Special Prosecution team remain dedicated to preserving the credibility and integrity of the institution's crime-busting work despite a scandal involving their boss, chief special prosecutor Katica Janeva.

The Prosecution for Organised Crime and Corruption confirmed on Monday night that it has taken the mobile phone of outgoing chief Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva to check for possible communications with two suspected extortionists.

Katica Janeva, head of the Special Prosecution in North Macedonia, SJO, the body that has spearheaded the fight against high-level crime in the country, submitted her irrevocable resignation on Monday.

Macedonia's Special Prosecution said on Monday that it is dropping all charges against 11 ethnic Albanian residents of the north-eastern village of Sopot who were being retried for allegedly planting a mine in 2003 that killed two Polish NATO soldiers and one Macedonian civilian.

Although the deadline for the SJO to press charges expired in June, chief prosecutor Katica Janeva says her office is still working on about 100 pre-investigative procedures into possible crimes.

She insisted that they have found an interim solution for the current problem about raising charges.

The Special Prosecution, SJO on Thursday announced charges in 17 cases, demanding the arrest of former premier Nikola Gruevski, former Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska, former Transport Minister Mile Janakieski, former government secretary-general Kiril Bozinovski and Gruevski's former cabinet chief Martin Protugjer.

Macedonia's Special Prosecution, SJO announced on Tuesday that it has added 17 new people to its list of suspects in the electoral fraud case, including more former state officials.

It has also widened the range of suspected criminal offences after reviewing wiretapped recordings of officials, chief special prosecutor Katica Janeva told a press conference in Skopje.

Macedonia's Helsinki Committee for Human Rights has condemned fresh attacks on the work of the Special Prosecution office, SJO, calling it absurd for the same judicial institutions that have been pinpointed for years in international reports as problematic to target the work of the SJO.

On a dramatic Friday night in Macedonia, Chief Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva personally intervened at the Beko police station in Skopje to ensure the release of an investigator who she said had been arrested for no good reason.