At Monday’s hearing in the Ivana and Katja trial, it was revealed that the woman’s neighbors had witnessed the continuous violence she had suffered at the hands of the suspect, the now-widower, Stojanche Jovanovski, and reported him to the police several times.
A neighbor who personally reported Jovanovski for physical violence testified, saying that during one such incident, the couple’s daughter, Katja, had run out of the apartment and started calling out to the neighbors for help. Ivana’s mother, Ljubica Stojanovska, too, said she had reported Jovanovski for violence against Ivana.
Jovanovski is on trial for three crimes: infliction of bodily injuries during domestic violence, endangering the safety, and instigation to and assistance in suicide. He pleaded guilty to the first two acts, but not guilty to the third. However, the judge did not accept the guilty plea because he deemed it was not given voluntarily.
Previously, in his statement before the Court, Jovanovski had claimed that he had been forced to confess. According to Jovanovski, he committed his acts in a fit of rage because his wife was having an affair with his friend, Martin Sazdov, who was with them on the critical day.