Demonstrators protesting against Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov's decision to halt all prosecutions linked to a wire-tapping scandal wrecked one of his offices and scuffled with police in the capital Skopje on Wednesday.

Protesters broke windows at a city center office occasionally used by Ivanov, and went inside and took out furniture which they tried to set on fire, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. They also broke windows at the nearby Ministry of Justice.

Demonstrators scuffled with riot police, threw stones and eggs at government buildings and set off flares before police used batons to disperse the crowd.

A police source said there had been some injuries and arrests but he could not immediately say how many.

Several thousand pro-opposition protesters took to the streets. A similar number took part in a pro-government rally that ended peacefully.

Earlier, Ivanov pardoned 56 government and opposition figures in a wiretapping scandal despite protests against the move at home and abroad, with the United States warning it could protect "corrupt politicians".

(Reporting by Kole Casule; Editing by Adrian Croft)

Source:
courtesy of REUTERS

by Reuters

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