Vasil Jovanov sentenced to 12 years in prison for Frosina Kulakova’s trampling

A 12 -year prison sentence was ordered by the court of Vasil Jovanov, based on the confession of guilt for the crime « Serious acts against people’s safety and property in the traffic » for the trampling of Frosina Kulakova in January this year on the Boulevard « Partizanski Odredi » in Skopje.

Judge Snezana Markovska, at the announcement of the verdict today at the Basic Criminal Court Skopje, said that as mitigating circumstances the court appreciated the recognition of guilt and the feeling of guilt, as well as the awareness of the degree of the crime that the consequences, age and lack of experience, and lack of experience – Breaking a number of blankets of the Law on Traffic, as well as the degree of danger of causing this offense and the fact that the defendant was previously sentenced to three years and ten months in prison for illicit drug trafficking and the fact that several more proceedings were opened before the court to pass red and endanger the life of pedestrians.

Especially as an aggravated circumstance the court appreciates the loss of a young life, which is most felt by parents and family.

– Defendant Vasil Jovanov is guilty of having a pedestrian, a driver, a red, a hood of alcohol and struck a pedestrian Frosina Kulakova, who passed the green light, and suffered severe injuries on the spot. The court has sentenced him to a 12 -year prison sentence, which is also dismissed in custody, banning a five -year vehicle and paying a fine and costs for the trial – the judge said.

The verdict is not final and Jovanov has the right to appeal before a second -instance court.

At a previous hearing before the court, Jovanov pleaded guilty to the crime and expressed remorse. According to the indictment, on January 29 this year, without a driving license and under the influence of alcohol, he was driving a vehicle at a speed of 91 kilometers per hour on the Partizanski Odredi Boulevard in Skopje, passing a red light at a pedestrian crossing, struck a Kulakova, which passed the green light. From the force of the impact, Frosina sustained serious bodily injuries and died on the spot. Jovanov is sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime for which Jovanov is charged.

– I can’t explain what kind of repentance I feel. I was not a day not to pray for Frosina’s soul and her family. It is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I want to once again express the deepest condolences and apology to the family and to all I know – Jovanov said in a closing statement before the court.

At the first hearing held last week, only evidence related to the amount of punishment, and not for the event, were conducted, as Jovanov recognized the crime.

Prosecutor Aleksandar Markovski, as evidence of the vision and amount of the sentence, told the court that Jovanov had a final verdict with a prison sentence of three years and ten months and five misdemeanor proceedings that were not processed for various traffic offenses.

The lawyer of the Kulakov family requested the highest punishment for the defendant in the closing statement, taking as aggravating circumstances that driving a vehicle without a driver’s license, under the influence of alcohol and without respecting traffic rules.

Jovanov’s defender said in the closing statement that the two families in this car accident are both families and that it is difficult for the family of the dead Frosina, but it is also difficult for both the defendant and his family. He called for the insinuations, stressing that Vasil had neither escaped nor tried, and that it was, that the prosecutor would also prosecute him for failure to do.

He submitted evidence to the Court for passed exams at the faculty and medals from boxing competitions, evidence from a handball federation that a 2021-22 and video for a 36-second season has been registered, which he said he wanted to show his « 

Frosina’s mother, Camelia Kulakova, in a closing statement before the court at a previous hearing, said she was not just a mother who had lost her child, but a man with a strained soul.

– Today I am Frosina’s voice because she cannot speak. Tell me which word of the law can describe this and describe the pain I have. This is not a trial for a traffic accident, this is a trial for robbery and future. I am looking for the highest punishment, not for revenge, but for justice – she said.

Meanwhile, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office Skopje also filed an indictment against Vasil’s father, Zoran Jovanov, for the crime of « causing general danger » referred to in Article 288 paragraph 4 in relation to paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. The indictment refers to the period from 04.11.2022 to 30.01.2025, in which Zoran Jovanov allowed his son Vasil Jovanov to operate a Peugeot 207 passenger motor vehicle, although he knew that the son had no driver’s license and was a multiple car accident.