Convicted gynecologist Muhamed Asani to report to Struga open prison on September 20, 2026
Administration: court approved postponement until September 19, 2026; Bitola Court of Appeal upheld the three-year sentence and a five-year ban.
Convicted gynecologist Muhamed Asani has been ordered to begin serving his three-year prison sentence at the open-type correctional facility in Struga on September 20, 2026, the Administration for Execution of Sanctions announced. The administration said the court granted a postponement of the start of imprisonment until September 19, 2026.
The Bitola Court of Appeal rejected Asani’s appeal and upheld the sentence for serious crimes against human health. The appellate decision also confirmed an additional sanction: a five-year ban on performing the medical profession.
Patient account and court findings
The case dates to August 27, 2020, when Asani, working as a specialist gynecologist at the General Hospital in Struga, treated a woman identified as Jaldz Veaposka. According to the appellate ruling, after a routine cesarean section there were clear signs of ongoing blood loss and a failure to carry out the necessary postoperative diagnostic checks.
Veaposka told the court she suffered severe postoperative pain and that hospital staff repeatedly downplayed her condition. She described collapsing into hemorrhagic shock the day she was to be discharged, and later learning during private examinations in Skopje that she had been left with a single ovary.
Medical experts at trial concluded that Asani failed to perform timely diagnostic procedures—ultrasound, abdominal CT with contrast and proper gynecological vaginal examinations—that could have identified the bleeding source on the first post‑operative day. During the emergency surgery, although the bleeding originated from the left renal artery, Asani removed Veaposka’s uterus, left ovary and left fallopian tube despite those organs being intact. Subsequent surgery by other surgeons found the renal artery injury and, because reconstruction was impossible, her left kidney was removed to save her life.
The administration’s statement sets the reporting date as September 20, 2026. The decision of the Bitola Court of Appeal and the five-year professional ban remain in force.
Photo: press material from the event
