SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonian police have issued an arrest warrant for the former prime minister, who has been convicted and sentenced to a two-year prison term over corruption-related charges.

Interior Ministry spokesman Toni Angelovski told The Associated Press that the warrant for Nikola Gruevski's arrest was issued Monday following instructions from Macedonia's criminal court.

On Friday, judges rejected Gruevski's final appeal against his serving the sentence. But several attempts by court clerks to locate Gruevski and personally hand him the order to present himself at the prison proved fruitless.

The 48-year-old Gruevski was prime minister from 2006-2016. He is the former leader of the main opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, which claims he is being politically persecuted.

He was convicted in May for unlawfully influencing officials to purchase a luxury car for government use.