Court in Kochani rejects Iva Mihajlova’s request to return passports for spine treatment in Bulgaria
Her lawyer says he will appeal to the Appellate Court in Shtip after the Kochani court denied the temporary release of the passports.
Courts in Kochani have rejected the latest request by 23‑year‑old Iva Mihajlova to have her seized passports returned so she can seek treatment abroad for a damaged spine.
Mihajlova, who is charged with causing a traffic accident with a victim, has had her passports confiscated as part of the criminal procedure. Her defence says it provided medical documentation showing she cannot be treated domestically and that the case attracted attention in Bulgaria because the defendant declares as Bulgarian and holds dual citizenship.
“I was informed by the court that the last request for the temporary return of the passports to enable treatment abroad has been rejected for my client. Although the court requested a collegial opinion from specialist doctors and that was provided and submitted, the court still rejected the request. I will appeal the decision to the second instance, before the Appellate Court in Shtip, on Monday,” defence lawyer Naser Raufi told us by phone.
Last October Mihajlova was involved in a road accident near Kochani in which one person died and several others, including the defendant, were seriously injured. Mihajlova denies the charge; the prosecution says she caused the fatal crash.
Cross‑border attention and courtroom incidents
The case has drawn interest from Sofia, where the matter is being followed by Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bulgarian embassy in Skopje because of Mihajlova’s self‑identification and dual nationality.
Two Bulgarian MPs from the right‑wing Revival party who reportedly have bans on entering North Macedonia nonetheless crossed the border near Delchevo last week and attended proceedings in the Kochani courtroom. The MPs, Krsto Vrachev and Angel Georgiev, publicly criticised the prosecution and judges during the hearing, using insulting language toward the prosecutor, the judges and the rule of law.
Police said that following media reports about the crossing, any shortcomings at border checkpoints will be investigated and that internal control will look into the case. Revival and several other radical Bulgarian groups have meanwhile continued to use derogatory and negationist rhetoric about the Macedonian people and language.
Report: Miomir Serafinovic
Photo: press material from the event
