Public Prosecutor's Office rejects defence bid to call Dejan and Mihajlo Jovanov in 'Pulse' trial

On 27 October 2026 the Public Prosecutor's Office rejected defence requests to call Pulse nightclub owner Dejan Jovanov and his son Mihajlo Jovanov as witnesses in the trial of nine police officers, the court heard in Skopje.

At today's hearing in the Basic Criminal Court Skopje, Public Prosecutor Spasenka Andonova told journalists that the defence proposals were unrelated to the core of the indictment and therefore could not be accepted.

"For the prosecution, such motions were absolutely unacceptable: they have no bearing on the subject of the indictment, nor on the circumstances the defence cited as a reason to propose them as witnesses; for the prosecution they were not acceptable," Andonova said after the session.

When asked about the defence claim that testimony would show Dejan Jovanov had not been paid for several months, Andonova stressed the indictment covers a broader set of actions.

"The focus of the indictment is not only the receipt of salary by Dejan Jovanov, but a whole range of actions that were taken, or insufficiently taken by the police officers that led to the unhindered functioning of the legal entity, that is, during that period the realization of financial turnover," she said.

Court rulings on other proposed evidence

The trial will resume on 5 November 2026. At the hearing the prosecution separately ruled on other defence proposals: it did not oppose Dimche Avramov's request to call Lidija Velkovska, Blagojche Spasov and Gjorgji Simonovski provided there is no written proof of the circumstances for which they are summoned, and it did not object to Jane Trajchev's request to call Sashko Dimitrov and to the introduction of a notice from the Municipality of Kochani. The prosecution rejected requests for an economic-legal expert opinion, the hearing of Aleksandar Sazdov, presentation of a technical finding by Aleksandar Jakimov and the interrogation of Zoran Danilov.

The prosecution also said some of the proposed evidence had already been submitted and presented by the Office. The defence accused the prosecution of presenting evidence selectively and urged the court to reject all allegations. The court said it will try to obtain responses from Internal Control and the Shtip Regional Police Directorate, at least in electronic form, before the next session so it can decide on the outstanding proposals.

The nine police officers are accused of failures in the inspections and issuance of consents connected to the Pulse nightclub; the indictment alleges they did not fully carry out the necessary checks for safety and legal conditions, enabling the venue to obtain and use a licence. They are charged with abuse of official position and have pleaded not guilty.

Photo: press material from the event