Mile Janakieski

The trial has started in Skopje of those charged with organising a mob assault on parliament in North Macedonia in April 2017, aimed at preventing the then opposition Social Democrats from taking power.

In one case, a lay judge failed to declare that she was the sister of the defence lawyer. The resignation or retirement of a lay judge, by law, returns the trial to the beginning, costing often months or even years of court time.

The former speaker of parliament in North Macedonia, Trajko Veljanoski, faces trial together with former transport minister Mile Janakieski, former education minister Spiro Risteski and former secret police chief Vladimir Atanasovski, after the Skopje Criminal Court on Thursday said it had accepted the charges pressed against them.

A key defendant in the trial of those involved in last year's attack on the Macedonian parliament has claimed the ruling party organised the whole event from the eighth floor of its Skopje headquarters.

The defendant, Aleksandar Vasilevski "Ninja" said the entire event was prepared and coordinated by then high-ranking officials in the then ruling VMRO DPMNE party.

Macedonian authorities detained the country's former transport minister, Mile Janakieski, and the former government secretary general, Kiril Bozinovski, on Wednesday after their former boss, ex-prime minister Nikola Gruevski, fled the country to avoid a jail sentence.

The Skopje Criminal Court ordered 30 days of detention for both of them.

Macedonia's Special Prosecution, SJO, said on Wednesday that it is investigating Vice Prime Minister Bujar Osmani, along with 14 other people, over several suspicious public tenders in 2010 while he served as health minister in former premier Nikola Gruevski's cabinet.

More than 1,000 previously unreleased wiretapped audio recordings are expected to be heard on Friday and next week at the ongoing trial of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and other former government officials who are charged with allegedly masterminding electoral fraud in 2013.

The Office of the Special Public Prosecutor in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has opened an investigation into the selection of Greek construction company Aktor as the preferred bidder for the Demir Kapija-Smokvica highway project. Suspects include FYROM's ex-prime minister Nikola Gruevski and former transport minister Mile Janakieski.

This aim becomes apparent, among other things, from some of the wiretapped conversations released by the opposition back in 2015.

Macedonia's former ruling VMRO DPMNE party has removed several indicted former ministers and senior officials from its executive committee - although with ousted PM Nikola Gruevski still leading the party, the changes appear more cosmetic than substantial, observers say.