A court of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has charged at least seventeen people in Skopje for espionage. The defendents were all charged with espionage, abuse of official positions, blackmail, fraud and illicit arms possession. They allegedly collected information on the political situation in the FYROM, on religious communities and elections, and collaborated with the “service of a neighbouring country”, not naming which one. Sources state that the officials sold their information to Greek, Hungarian and Serbian intelligence services as well as the CIA from between 600 to 1,200 euros per piece. They also used the information to extort prominent politicians and influential businessmen.

The people were charged for their participation in a group that supplied foreign intelligence services with national security information. Former FYROM intelligence official Marjan Efremov could face 15 years in prison and is considered the organizer of the “spy” conspiracy. He is charged with forming and leading the spy ring since 2009, following his sacking from the state service. “Most of the (incriminating) documents have been discovered at his house,” said the Police Minister, Gordana Jankulovska, at a press conference on Tuesday. Police stumbled on the documents shedding light on his illegal activities last May during a search of the family home in relation to a different case involving his brother.

Another defendent, former police general Goran Stojkov is up for nine years in prison. Other people charged included interior ministry and parliament officials. The head of the speaker’s office in parliament, Marijan Madzovski, the former head of the state agency to combat money-laundering, Vane Cvetanov,  and retired counter-intelligence agency employee Aleksandar Dinevski are also charged with espionage. An employee of the National Archive who allegedly copied documents containing the information was also charged.

Judge Gojko Ristov presided over the case and said that the evidence proved without doubt that they had sold sensitive information marked as “top state secrets”.

The opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, on Monday condemned the arrests as politically motivated, saying they were intended to frighten ordinary people.