Five policemen jailed for receiving kickbacks

As many as five police officers - formerly employed at a border crossing - were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for taking bribery.

A competent court in Skopje pronounced the sentences today after the trial of the bribed policemen. The convicted are part of the group of police and customs officers that were caught red-handed while taking kickbacks in a comprehensive operation of the Interior Ministry (IM), involving secret agents and special investigative methods.

Except for the policemen, the court also found guilty and sentenced to one-year jail for meditating in bribery a cook and a waiter that worked in a bar at the border crossing.

The police officers were taking 10 euros per passenger for not performing a detailed check of their passports.

The court acquitted today a woman police officer and a waiter from the charges.

The trial of a number of customs officers that were caught in IM's operation is under way at Kumanovo court.