Prosecution at the start of the trial: Pulse Discotheque in Kocani was a powder keg for years

2025-11-19 21:01:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Prosecution at the start of the trial: Pulse Discotheque in Kocani was a powder

The trial for the Kocani fire is taking place in the largest courtroom in North Macedonia, built next to the Idrizovo prison, on the outskirts of Skopje.

The defendants, lawyers, prosecutors, relatives, and journalists filled the courtroom from the early hours of the morning of November 19.

Some of the injured were also in the hall, while some relatives wore T-shirts with photos of the victims.

This is a broad issue, not only regarding the number of defenders, but also the time period that includes the last 13 years.

And before the indictment was presented with the Prosecution's opening statements, it took several hours for the court to register all those present and to document the defense of all parties involved.

Furthermore, before the opening statements, almost all of the defendants' lawyers requested an adjournment of Wednesday's hearing.

However, the panel did not accept their request and did not allow the trial to be postponed. It was suggested that parts of the remarks be submitted at the next session when they will have their opening statement.

The lawyers cited the merger of two court proceedings as a reason for the postponement, namely the fact that the case with the Rubikon agency, which was responsible for securing the Pulse disco, was added to the initial case with 34 defendants and three companies. This brought the total number of defendants in the case to 35 people and three companies. Thus, an integrated indictment was created from two.

As a second argument, the lawyers mentioned that with the merger of the two proceedings, the prosecutors also submitted a revised list of evidence and witnesses.

"Given the merger of the indictments, and considering that the prosecution has announced a reduction in evidence, there is an obstacle for the defense to pronounce on the evidence. In this sense, I ask the court to provide us with access to the new indictment and the reduced list of evidence, with an additional period of time to submit additions to the list of evidence," said one of the lawyers.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, were against the postponement, saying that, in essence, there is no difference.

"Nothing has fundamentally changed in the actions of the accused, nor in their legal qualification, and there is no question of submitting a new list of evidence that would be unknown to the defense," said prosecutor Borçe Janev.

Such requests, in turn, caused skepticism among the victims' parents.

" From the beginning of the court session, we are facing great skepticism and we see a game, a scheme by the representatives of the lawyers and the accused who manipulate in various ways to deepen our pain even more," said Toma Stojanov, the father of the victim Andrej Stojanov.

He added that they feel manipulated and fear that the same disaster will happen to the families in other court proceedings, citing the cases of accidents with Durmo Turs buses near Laskarci, Skopje in 2019 and Besa Trans in Bulgaria in 2021, as well as the fire at the modular hospital in Tetovo in 2021.

The families' observations and reactions to these cases were that the processes took too long and full responsibility was not determined.

In the Kocani case, at the beginning of the trial, Judge Diana Gruevska-Ilievska, who is leading the process, said that the panel can guarantee transparency and professionalism, but refused to say when the trial will end.

" I know about the pain, we are all parents here, we will have respect for the pain and grief, but we are professionals and we must respect everyone's rights. We cannot guarantee speed in court, but we will do everything to ensure that the process takes place without obstacles... How long it will take, no one knows. Will it take five months or five years, no one knows. Let's not prejudge," said the judge, addressing the parties present and the parents.

Who are the accused?

The trial begins about eight months after the tragedy. The families of the victims organized a “March for Angels” every Saturday through Ko?ani, demanding justice. On the eve of the trial, they also marched in Skopje, where they received support from thousands of citizens.

The tragedy in Kocani occurred on the night between March 15 and 16, during a performance by the music group DNK - sparks from pyrotechnics caused flames to engulf the ceiling of the discotheque, the fire spread quickly, while panic and the narrow exit caused many people to be crushed.

According to the indictment, the facility did not even meet the minimum technical requirements for gastronomy activities, did not have a reconstruction permit, did not have a basic reconstruction project, did not have protection from fire, explosions and hazardous substances, and had not drawn up a plan and assessment for protection and rescue.

Of the 35 defendants, three of them are responsible persons, owners and managers of the company CLASSIC DM - Koçani with a branch Cabaret PULS and the company MMMM CAFE - Koçani, which have run a food business in the fatal facility since December 2012.

Among the accused is the brother of the discotheque owner, who, according to the Prosecution, was responsible for selling tickets and controlling the number of visitors and their age.

At Pulse, on the fatal night, according to the prosecution's estimate, there were over 500 people.

Three mayors of Kocani will also be charged. Ljupco Papazov (VMRO-DPMNE), who was in office at the time of the tragedy, as well as his predecessors Nikolco Iliev (LSDM) and Ratko Dimitrovski (VMRO-DPMNE).

According to the prosecution, they knew that the Pulse nightclub existed in the city, but did nothing, namely, the place was not registered in the municipal register in accordance with the Law on Hotel Activities. They, as the prosecution claims, enabled the venue to operate and the owner to pay a fee for carrying out hotel activities.

Kreshnik Bekteshi and Valon Saraçini, former ministers of economy, are also accused.

The list also includes a state secretary and five officials from the Ministry of Economy, which is responsible for issuing licenses for nightclubs.

Among the accused is the current Minister without Portfolio in the Government, Shaban Saliu, who is being prosecuted as the former director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, along with three other former directors, as well as an inspector general who was the head of the inspection service at the State Security Service.

The case, according to a decision of the Supreme Court, was assigned to the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje because the courts in Shtip and Strumica do not have a sufficient number of judges in criminal cases.

But also because the Supreme Court believed that the case should be handled by "judges with experience and acquired knowledge of criminal matters, who will enable efficient, professional and legal procedures, and at the same time contribute to increasing public awareness."/ REL