North Macedonia’s fugitive ex-leader convicted anew at home

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — A court in North Macedonia has imposed a new prison sentence on the country’s fugitive former prime minister Nikola Gruevski. This time it was a six-year term for abuse of power over the financing of his party’s headquarters in the capital, Skopje. It was the fifth conviction for Gruevski since he left office in 2016 after a decade in power. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming political persecution. Gruevski fled to Hungary in 2018 before his first sentence could be carried out and was granted asylum there. On Wednesday, the country’s Criminal Court also ordered the confiscation of his conservative party’s eight-story Skopje headquarters that was built during his time in office, and of dozens of other party properties.