Gruevski: Court’s decision is a political pressure and political repression

Former prime minister Nikola Gruevski on Friday called the decision of the Appellate Court upholding his two-year prison sentence ‘political pressure and political repression.’

He will be imprisoned for the illicit purchase of a luxury, €600,000  Mercedes.

“It is political repression and a politically-staged process that is ongoing. The only thing that changed after my press conference in Parliament is that they postponed it for after the referendum, instead of before the referendum,” Gruevski told reporters outside a courthouse during a break of another trial in which he is one of the defendants.

Gruevski, who is also the former leader of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, pledged he would use all legal remedies at his disposal.

Asked whether he might vote in Parliament in a bid to somehow avoid serving time, he said he wouldn’t support the constitutional changes.

“I will not let my people down, the people have spoken,” Gruevski said.

Earlier in the day, the Appellate Court in Skopje dismissed the appeal by the former prime minister as being ‘groundless’.