The prosecution asked that Saso Mijalkov is ordered from house arrest into detention, after he was given a 12 years prison sentence today.

Mijalkov fled the country briefly over the weekend, in an apparent deal with the Zaev regime, but returned under international pressure. The prosecution did not cite his escape in the request, but said that, as former secret service chief, he is a man of significant means, an address in Prague, extensive businesses and can easily live on the run. Even after the escape, Mijalkov was ordered into mere house arrest and not in actual detention.

His attorney Ljupco Svrgovski (a former chief prosecutor) said that it is not Mijalkov’s fault that the state has not provided the needed electronic surveillance systems and that his property can be sufficient guarantee that he can be allowed into house arrest.