As Zoran Zaev accumulates absolute power in Macedonia, outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov has a week to decide whether he will try to pardon some of the political prisoners of the Zoran Zaev regime.

His second term in office expires on May 12th, after which the SDSM – DUI candidate Stevo Pendarovski takes over. A long list of opposition officials and activists face politically driven charges – among them are former Interior Minister Mitko Cavkov, Jane Cento and a group of other activists who were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences as “terrorists” over the April 2017 incident in the Parliament.

Zaev’s Justice Ministry announced it will fight the President if he decides to give last minute pardons to people like Cento, but legal experts largely agree that the President has wide pardon powers.