Pre-trial detention of Dejan Jovanov in the 'Pulse' case expires on 3 October

Pre-trial detention for Dejan Jovanov, the owner of the club "Pulse" and one of the accused in the fire in which 63 young people died, expires on 3 October — a date after which, according to the legal deadline, he cannot remain in effective detention.

At today's hearing his lawyer Ivana Kocevska announced she will submit a guarantee to ensure his presence at hearings and asked the court for written permission for a notary to certify the consent that will be part of the guarantee.

Kocevska said that press reports she considers pressure aimed at finding grounds for a new detention and that this undermines the rights of her client. She also reacted to the statement by public prosecutor Nenad Saveski, who announced he would consider options for extending the measure.

"A new criminal offense is just playing with the rights of the accused, but here there is serious pressure. We are not trying to, and we do not deny responsibility for the incident, but we are asking that his rights as an accused be respected, and this measure is only for him, despite the circumstances regarding his health which are not even for commenting. A fair trial is not a privilege, but a fundamental principle on which a state is founded. With awareness of the case and its gravity and with sympathy for all those affected by the tragedy to which no one is indifferent, it must be proven that the rule of law functions," said lawyer Kocevska.

Legal deadline and court decisions

Judge Dijana Gruevska replied that the law will be fully respected and that the rights of the accused have not been endangered so far. "It is true that on 3 October the detention must end; how the criminal panel will decide further we will see," Judge Gruevska said.

According to the law, a defendant may be held in detention for a maximum of one year from the assessment of the indictment. For the "Pulse" case that deadline expires on 3 October, when the one-year limit for Jovanov's effective detention is reached. In recent months the court accepted guarantees and lifted measures for five defendants who had been under house arrest.

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