Igor Spasov, the former police officer who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the brutal murder of 20 year old Martin Neskovski in 2011, has been able to claim nearly a full year as medical leave, the Idrizovo prison confirmed today.

Spasov was granted a medical leave in August 2018, initially for two months. But it was extended several times, meaning that he is still out. His latest medical leave ends in mid August 2019, when he should return to the Idrizovo prison, unless he receives another extension.

The murder Spasov committed was used by the then opposition SDSM party to construct an elaborate conspiracy theory about the alleged involvement of the Nikola Gruevski Government, which was later reheated during the 2015 Colored Revolution. An illegally recorded wiretap, which has since been revealed to be manipulatively edited, was used by Zoran Zaev and his SDSM party to spark violent protests against Gruevski, which contributed to his downfall. After grabbing power, Zaev actually met with Spasov during a visit to Idrizovo.