The Skopje Appeals Court reduced the prison sentence given to former Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska from six to four years.

Jankuloska was charged in a number of cases initiated by the Special Prosecutor’s Office during the 2015 political crisis, and is sentenced over the purchase of an armored vehicle used by the Interior Ministry to transport visiting foreign dignitaries. It’s one of the first cases process by the courts in the on – going campaign of political persecution against opposition officials. Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who was sentenced in the same case and left for Hungary where he claimed political asylum, described it as a staged criminal case meant to serve the political interest of the SDSM party.

Jankuloska was initially sentenced to six years in prison, but appealed the decision. The court confirmed the allegations in the initial sentence. Her case was delayed and tried separately because of her pregnancy.

The money appropriated for the vehicle were not misused, and the armored Mercedes is still in use by the Interior Ministry – it was used by Angela Merkel, Theresa May and other visiting dignitaries.