Skopje, 16 February 2023 (MIA) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has rejected the appeal over the 2016 annulled pardon of former president Gjorge Ivanov as unfounded.

The pardon included 56 suspects and sentenced persons in multiple cases of the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO), including former PM Nikola Gruevski, former ministers Mile Janakieski and Gordana Jankuloska, former secret police chief Sasho Mijalkov and other government officials.

Back in April 2016, the Constitutional Court cancelled the 2009 changes to the law, thus giving the President the option to give pardon without carrying out the pardoning procedure. Right after the Constitutional Court decision, then-president Ivanov decided to pardon the VMRO-DPMNE officials, which resulted in a public outcry and mass protests. Afterwards, the Law on Pardoning was amended and the pardons were annulled.