34 Officials Pardoned for Wiretapping 20,000 People... now unpardoned.

President Gjorge Ivanov on Monday revoked pardons he had granted to 34 officials implicated in a wire-tapping scandal that has thrown Macedonia into political turmoil, meeting demands from the opposition, the European Union and the United States.

In an EU-brokered deal last year, Macedonia's political parties agreed to hold an early election and that a special prosecutor should investigate allegations that former prime minister Nikola Gruevski and his close allies authorized eavesdropping on more than 20,000 people.

Ivanov's decision in April to pardon 56 officials prosecuted over their involvement in the scandal drew nationwide protests that led to the cancellation of an election set for June 5. more