Strumica Mayor Zoran Zaev and his five associates are in the prison in Suto Orizari in Skopje as of Sunday evening, after the Criminal Council of Skopje Basic Court 1 ruled a 30-day detention against them.

Zaev and his associates went to the prison in Suto Orizari by themselves after hearing on Sitel television that the Criminal Council had accepted the Public Prosecution’s second appeal against the investigating judge’s decision to release the suspects on bail.

Vane Andreev, Zaev’s attorney, stated that the Public Prosecution’s explanation for the appeal was that Zaev, as mayor, could influence the investigation.