One month after the tragedy in Kocani – with the investigation so far covered over 60 natural and three legal entities

Today is one month after the tragedy at the Pulse disco in Kocani that killed 61 people and injured about 200. This is the biggest accident since the state’s independence. The investigation so far has shown that there have been systemic errors and omissions in recent years, so the investigation has covered a total of over 60 natural and three legal entities, including the disco owner, current and former Kocani mayors, former economics ministers, former directors of the State Market Inspectorate. The investigation is still ongoing, involving 13 prosecutors. Many searches have been carried out so far, hearing witnesses and over a thousand material evidence collected.

Initially the investigation covered 34 natural and three legal entities, including former Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi, the incumbent Kocani Mayor Ljupco Papazov, who resigned after the accident, two previous mayors Ratko Dimitrievski and Nikolco Iliyev.

This weekend, the investigation was expanded with 19 new people, including three former economy ministers, the current and two former directors of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, three authorized building inspectors in the municipality of Kocani, three officials in the Ministry of Economy, two state secretaries in the Ministry of Economy and four market inspectors. The investigation does not cover the current Minister of Economy Besar Durmishi, because according to the prosecution, there has been no evidence so far that it has been requested to extend the license of the « Pulse » disco.

The detention of seven more police officers who are expected to be brought before a pre -trial judge on the order of the public prosecutor. State Public Prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski does not rule out the possibility of detaining even more persons until the investigation is completed.

In an interview with Telma TV, Kocevski said that the Pulse facility was not only known to the police, but also for the whole city and that no inspection was carried out for 13 years.

– The Pulse facility was not only known to the police, it was known to the whole city. And it was also known to the local self -government, all the competent institutions that were to function, which means that for 13 years in Kocani no inspection of the facility has been carried out – said Kocevski.

It said the licenses that the disco were obtained from 2012 to 2017 were also obtained and that everyone was issued without the full necessary documentation. Regarding the nature used during the concert when the fire occurred, Kocevski said that it was being examined where it was purchased, whether it was properly used….

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski promises that anyone for which there is evidence will be brought to justice. In a statement on Monday, Toskovski said the investigation was not over and that no one would be tolerated.

– The investigation is being conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Interior has filed criminal charges which, until the moments of taking action, considered to be submitted. Anyone with evidence is against the Ministry of Interior – said Toskovski, among other things.

Some of the suspects, covered by the investigation, are in custody, part of house arrest, and some have been given precautionary measures.

The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has also been established in the Law on Catering Activity. Enrollment of individuals in the catering registry without prior checkup by the competent authority for the fulfillment of the minimum technical conditions, is just one of the weaknesses noted by the SCPC. Regulatory risk, according to the Commission, is also observed in the verification of the conditions for performing catering activity, in the procedure and conditions of license, in terms of penalties, and it is not clear and what additional activities besides the catering are covered by the law.

The fire at the Kocani disco caused the night of March 15 to March 16 during the performance of the DNA group. A total of 61 people were killed, 59 of whom the same night, the deceased were 16 to 48 years old. Most of them aged 24 and 26. Among them were the DNA band singer Andrei Gjorgjieski, professor of the Faculty of Music Sara Projkovska, drummer Gjorgji Gjorgjiev, as well as Filip Stevanovski, Aleksandar Kolarov and Aleksandar Efremov.

Two died further as a result of serious injuries. One of them was the manager of the discotheque Aleksandar Karakadovski, who died in Lithuania where he was being treated. And he was one of the suspects, but for him now the investigation has been suspended.

A total of 193 people were injured, most of them, after initially provided medical assistance in hospitals in the country, were sent for treatment abroad. The costs of treating and accommodating the families of the injured were completely covered by the state side.

According to the latest information that Health Minister Arben Taravari shared on Monday at a press conference in the hospitals of the country and abroad, 57 patients are treated, two of whom are in critical condition. Nine patients are treated in the country and 48 outside the country.

After the tragedy in Kocani, the Ambulance driver Ile Gocevski also died, who managed to transport many of the injured all night. The health minister announced that he would be posthumously honored for his sacrifice.

Through protests citizens demand responsibility

After the tragedy in Kocani, a seven -day mourning was declared in the country. All music activities and events in the institutions in the field of culture were canceled, and books of mourning in Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Macedonian embassies around the world were open. In compassion for the victims in the fire, a day of mourning was also declared in Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

Through peaceful protests, they were honored to the dead and injured in the fire and demanded responsibility by the institutions of the system.

A day after the fire in Kocani, a protest was held in which citizens demanded responsibility for the tragedy at the Pulse discotheque. Then the classic café owned by the discotheque was demolished.

Protests were held in Skopje and other cities in the country.

In Kocani, on April 5 under the motto « March for angels » At 12:00 and 5 minutes, as a symbol of the delayed institutional reaction, the families of the deceased who demanded justice for their children were also protested. According to them, if all the institutions did their job, this tragedy would not have come.

The tragedy in Kocani has forced the institutions to take intensive measures to check public buildings and catering facilities in the country, ie whether they meet the minimum technical conditions for work and security standards.

The Parliament also adopted amendments to the Law on Misdemeanors Against Public Order and Peace, which prohibited the use of indoors, as well as misdemeanor fines for natural and legal persons acting contrary to the prohibition.