Within days the Supreme Court is supposed to reach a verdict on whether the pardons given by President Gjorge Ivanov to five dozen high profile defendants in 2015 are still applicable.

Defendants in one of the dozens of politically motivated trials are pushing the case before the Supreme Court. President Ivanov tried to put an end to the political crisis in Macedonia by removing the abuses of the rule of law and the politically motivated charges as an instrument in the political fight. But under international pressure, the pardons were reversed by law – a move that has dubious legitimacy.

The European Court of Human Rights did not pick up the issue, and it is now back on the roster of the Supreme Court. If the decision is favorable to the defendants, it could put an end to the bulk of the politically motivated campaign of persecution against former VMRO-DPMNE party officials.