English
All the defendants in today’s hearing in the Kocani nightclub disaster declared that they don’t feel guilty under the charges. The most expected testimony was that of Dejan Jovanov, owner of the Pulse nightclub, who insisted that he had no idea about the security failures in the club and that it was the band that brought the fireworks that caused the disaster into the club. His lawyer claimed that when the club organized events with fireworks, they hired a professional, but in this instance, it was done without his knowledge.
In our family we also have one casualty and one injured, and I carry the same pain you do, Jovanov told the families of the victims gathered in the gallery. He tried to shield his son Mihail, who is also accused, insisting that he had not official duties in the club.
Architect Milka Edrovska, charged with organizing the reconstruction of the converted warehouse, said that she was only in charge of plans for the parking area, while another architect, who is not even charged, did the interior. She called out Jovanov, asking him to tell the truth about which architect worked on what plans.
Another of the defendants, Xhevair Kamberi, an Economy Ministry official charged with taking bribes to keep the club open, was called out by the judge. A search of his prison cell produced a laptop and no less than 13 mobile phones. When Kamberi claimed that “he found the devices there” he was threatened by the judge that he would be sent to solitary confinement.
