All opposition parties in Macedonia’s parliament walked out in protest at the arrest of Zoran Zaev, a town mayor alleged by police to be linked to organised crime and corruption, while street scuffles ensued between Zaev supporters and police outside the court building where he was being held.

Zaev and four associates from the municipal administration were arrested on the morning of July 17 2008 on charges arising from Zaev allegedly having allowed and been involved in the illegal construction of a trade complex at the former city market in Strunitsa, Bulgarian news agency Focus reported.

Construction of the trade complex had continued in spite of a ban by the Macedonian ministry of transport. Investigators have alleged that Zaev was involved in the embezzlement of the equivalent of several million euro.

Macedonian news agency Makfax said that all opposition parties had joined in with the boycott of parliament by the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia, the party of which Zaev is a senior official.

About 5pm local time in Skopje, the questioning of Zaev, which had started in the morning, was continuing, representatives of Zaev’s party said after meeting court officials.

Opposition politicians said that the action against Zaev was politically motivated.

“We will boycott parliament until the ruling coalition stops this brutal treatment of the opposition,” Emilijan Stankovic, spokesperson for the opposition Social Democratic Party, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.