Macedonia parliament strips immunity of 6 lawmakers

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia's parliament has stripped the immunity of six conservative opposition lawmakers after a prosecutor demanded they be held for 30 days for alleged involvement in a violent incursion by protesters into Parliament in April.

Sixty-seven of parliament's 120 lawmakers backed the move Friday. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the session, claiming the action was politically motivated.

The decision means the lawmakers can now be tried. The public prosecutor's office has charged 36 people over the storming of parliament by protesters which injured more than 100 people. They have been charged with posing a "terrorist threat to the constitutional order and security," which carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence.

Nineteen people, including a former interior minister, have been ordered jailed for 30 days pending trial, while another three are under house arrest.