In the Kocani fire case, 34 physical persons and three legal entities have been charged. For 11 persons, the procedure has been stopped because of lack of evidence, while it’s been temporarily stopped for Vladimir Blazev (aka Panco) of the DNK band, who’s receiving treatment.
“The procedure has been stopped also with regards to the manager of the company, who died in a hospital”, Prosecutor-General Ljupco Kocevski explained at a press-conference on Friday as well.
Among those charged are the club’s owners and managers, construction inspectors, former heads of the Municipality, directors, employees of state institutions, architects, and security guards. The procedure has been stopped for two ex-ministers as well.
24 TV has learned that it’s about ex-Economy Ministers Driton Kuci and Bekim Neziri. Citing the same sources, the TV station reported that two other former Economy Ministers, Kreshnik Bekteshi and Valon Saracini, had been among those charged.
Five civil servants and a secretary-general part of the Ministry have been charged as well. Among those facing a bill of indictment is the brother of the boss of the Pulse nightclub, who would sell the tickets, as well.
According to the charge, former Mayors Ratko Dimitrovski, Nikolco Ilijev, and the one who resigned after the tragedy, Ljupco Papazov, never notified the Interior and Economy Ministries that the Pulse facility’s operations were irregular and that it didn’t meet operations criteria, while they never ordered supervision and control, and would receive 2,000 euros to the Municipality’s account as payment.
Four State Market Inspectorate inspectors have been covered by the process as well. In addition to the separate investigation against 14 police officers, Thursday had seen another 13 police officers from Kocani and Stip arrested.
According to Kocevski, “each institutional chain had a legal obligation to prevent the tragedy, but nobody acted”.
The Prosecutor’s Office said the investigation was thorough, while evidence showed a clear picture of systemic negligence, corruption, and coverup that led to one of the biggest tragedies in the country’s newer history.