A session of the Inquiry Committee over the Kochani fire took place on Tuesday at noon at the Parliament, chaired by Levica MP Dimitar Apasiev. Even though initially they reported they will not attend the session, PM Hristijan Mickoski and Interior Minister Panche Tohskovski were present at the session, along with President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova.
Prosecutor General Ljupcho Kocevski did not attend the session, stating in a written notice that if he speaks of details about the case at the session, that could compromise the entire investigation.
Some of the relatives of the victims of the Kochani fire spoke at the session, saying that they still wait for answers on key questions regarding the accident and the investigation that followed, while representatives of the civil sector stated that here must be legal and political responsibility over the circumstances that have led to the accident.
Levica MPs Redzep Ismail and Jovana Mojsoska located responsibility over the accident within the local self-government of Kochani and relevant institutions of the state, while opposition MPs Sali Murati, Oliver Spasovski and Blerim Bexheti promised support aiming at resolving the case about the accident.
VMRO-DPMNE MP Ivanka Vasilevska on the other hand, demanded recuse of Apasiev as president of the Inquiry Committee, arguing that he is biased, i.e. that he already claimed on several occasions that the bill of indictment in this case is faulty and will fail, and added that he attempts to manipulate the people who lost their loved ones in the accident. Apasiev interrupted the session, saying that the session will continue in due time.
After the session, PM Mickoski was quizzed by the media about the demands for financial compensations of the relatives of the Pulse nightclub fire victims, but he refused to provide comments, only briefly stating that justice for such cases can only be reached in judicial processes, and not at sessions of parliamentary committees.