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| - North Macedonia's fugitive former prime minister Nikola Gruevski was sentenced by a local court on Tuesday to 18 months in jail for inciting violence. It was the second prison sentence for Gruevski, a former strongman close to Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban who in 2018 fled to Budapest to escape a two-year jail sentence for abuse of power. That case, over the purchase of a luxury Mercedes, followed the end of his decade-long rule in 2016. At the time the tribunal found Gruevski guilty of using the vehicle, worth 600,000 euros ($704,000), for personal use even though it was purchased with state funds. The leader of Macedonia's nationalist right-wingers also unlawfully influenced officials to ensure the luxury car was bought from a company he favoured. Now a court has sentenced the 50-year-old former prime minister for having "organised, ordered and incited vandalism and violence". Prosecutors said Gruevski coordinated a violent 2013 protest by a crowd against an opposition-run district council in capital Skopje. While the mob accused councillors of planning to destroy a church as they broke into the building, breaking windows and hurling stones, prosecutors said it had been organised by Gruevski to block an urban planning scheme that threatened his personal financial interests. They founded their case on audio wiretaps released in 2015 by the Social Democrats, who were in opposition at the time. One tape recorded a voice, allegedly Gruevski, ordering an associate to organise people to break into the council and slap the mayor. Six other defendants including former transport minister Mile Janakievski received suspended prison sentences. Both prosecutors and defendants said they would appeal. Gruevski still faces charges in three other cases, including over allegations of corruption, electoral fraud and illegal party funding. He is also under investigation over an April 2017 attack on North Macedonia's parliament. Gruevski said he had fled to Hungary after receiving a threat that he would be killed in jail. str-ev/ljv/tgb
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