February 22 (SeeNews) - Political infighting and pressure on the Special Public Prosecutor has obstructed prosecution and investigation of corrupt high-level officials in Macedonia, Amnesty International said.
The Special Public Prosecutor continued to face pressure in carrying out her work, non-governmental organisation said in the 2016/2017 edition of its annual report The State of the World’s Human Rights.
The prosecutor was appointed by the country's parliament in September 2015, following the great wire-tapping scandal which pushed the country in a prolonged political crisis.
The transitional parliament rejected the proposal to extend the prosecutor's mandate, which is due June 2017, Amnesty International recalled in the report.
The government also refused to improve access to witness protection services for witnesses involved in the prosecutor's investigations.
Breaches of human rights of Roma and refugees by the Macedonian authorities were among the other concerns raised by the report, which covers 159 countries and territories.
The protection status of some 80 refugees from the Kosovo war, who are mainly Roma, was withdrawn due to dubious grounds related to national security and without the opportunity the decision to be challenged in courts, according to the report.
The closure of the border with Greece for refugees in March caused thousands of migrants to be stranded in a Greek camp near the border with Macedonia with bad humanitarian conditions until they were evicted back to Greece in May. During the year Macedonian officials often returned refugees to Greece summarily and sometimes violently, Amnesty International said. Migrants who came in the country before the closure of the border were often detained in transit centres in Macedonia with inadequate conditions without being able to challenge the legality of their detention.