The Republic of Northern Macedonia issued an international arrest warrant yesterday for the former director of the Security and Counterintelligence Directorate, who disappeared before an expected court ruling on his alleged involvement in a wiretapping scandal, the Associated Press reported.
Police searched several sites in Skopje in an attempt to find Sasho Miyalkov. He and 11 other former government and police officials are on trial in connection with the 2016 scandal that led to the fall of the conservative VMRO-DPMNE government after a decade in power.
Miyalkov, who is the first cousin of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, is accused of organizing the wiretapping of more than 20,000 people, including politicians, judges and journalists, between 2006 and 2016.
Miyalkov received a court order for house arrest before the court ruling, which is expected to be announced on Friday. However, he disappeared on Sunday from the address he told authorities.
His sudden disappearance is reminiscent of that of his cousin Gruevski, who fled the country in 2018 to avoid a two-year sentence for participating in a corruption scheme. He was granted political asylum in Hungary.
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said he was disappointed with Miyalkov’s disappearance, called for a full investigation and expressed hope that authorities would look for him.
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