Prosecution silent on probe into 11 SVR Veles officers

The Specialized unit that prosecutes crimes by persons with police powers has so far given no public update on the investigation into 11 officers from SVR Veles who are suspected of procedural failures in protecting Rosica Koceva. Journalists' questions sent at the beginning of July and on 29 September went unanswered by the office.

On 26 September 2025 the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that an internal review found the officers had not acted in full compliance with legal obligations and procedures after Koceva's reports. "Based on the checks carried out, a proposal has been submitted to initiate disciplinary proceedings against 11 employees of SVR Veles, and the established findings have been notified in writing to the Public Prosecution for further action within its competence," the Ministry said.

The prosecution has been probing for more than a year whether the 11 policemen failed to follow procedures in protecting Koceva, who repeatedly reported violence and harassment by her former partner, Ilija Stefanovski. Stefanovski killed Koceva in her home on 15 September 2025 after earlier killing her father, Kiro, and then took his own life.

Sequence of warnings, violations and missed protection

Investigators say Stefanovski had breached two active court measures on the day of the killings. One measure, ordered by the Basic Court Veles at the request of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Veles, forbade him from leaving his residence in Skopje. The second measure prohibited approaching or contacting Rosica and I. M. Stefanovski went to the house of Rosica's father and waited for her to arrive.

The probe found that Stefanovski killed her father, Kiro, in the morning and remained in the family home until about 15:30, when he stabbed Rosica six times and then inflicted a fatal wound to his own neck.

Earlier in 2025, half a year before the murders, Stefanovski was convicted for two criminal offences against Rosica — endangering safety in the context of domestic violence on 20 February and an act of violence during the night of 3–4 March — for which he received a suspended prison sentence. From 21 January to 7 July 2025 Koceva filed seven reports with SVR Veles, alleging attacks, mistreatment and harassment; police have stated they acted on those reports.

Additional troubling incidents documented in the investigation include graffiti with a threatening message naming Koceva on 18 May 2025, discovery on 19 June of a USB stuck to a shop door containing photographs and explicit recordings of Rosica and Ilija, and a 21 May 2025 complaint by Koceva to the Veles public prosecutor for failure to comply with a court order after Stefanovski continued to send messages and photos. On 18 May Stefanovski is accused of approaching her home, seizing her father’s car and later setting it on fire at another location.

Photo: SDK.MK)