Political prisoner Mile Janakieski, who was attacked in prison on Thursday, began a hunger strike. Janakieski demands that he is released in house arrest, instead of being kept in the Shutka prison where he and fellow political prisoner Spiro Ristovski were attacked by members of the Albanian terrorist group which attacked the city of Kumanovo in 2015, killing eight Macedonian officers.

Janakieski also refused a visit from his family. He was returned to Shutka after being treated in a hospital in Skopje. Police there tried to prevent VMRO-DPMNE party leader Hristijan Mickoski from visiting Janakieski.

Janakieski was first arrested after former Prime Minister and VMRO leader Nikola Gruevski left the country for Hungary, where he received asylum claiming that he is politically persecuted, and faces threats from criminals in the prison. Janakieski was detained the next day, in what was clearly seen as a revenge detention. He was released in house arrest after US Ambassador Jess Baily sent an open letter to the Macedonian courts washing his hands off of the series of charges and arrests of VMRO officials and activists. But he was re-arrested on Wednesday on charges of involvement in the April 2017 incident in the Parliament.