Six charged over collapse of protected Vlado Maleski house in Struga

The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Struga has filed an indictment against six people over the collapse of a protected historic house belonging to Vlado Maleski, the office announced. The charges relate to damaging or destroying property under temporary protection or cultural heritage, under Article 264 of the Criminal Code.

According to the indictment, the first accused — the manager of a construction company from Veleshta who acted as investor and demolition contractor — was ordered by the Directorate for Protection of Cultural Heritage to prepare a conceptual project specifying a strict method for demolition because the targeted building shared a party wall and roof structure with the protected old Struga house of Vlado Maleski. Instead, prosecutors say, he submitted only a basic project that did not define a demolition method and, after demolition on the same parcel, began constructing a new building with a basement, ground floor and one upper floor.

While excavating for the basement of the new structure, the indictment states, the accused carried out a broad excavation with an excavator that undermined the shared dividing wall between the two properties, which caused destabilization and the subsequent collapse of the house under protection.

Officials and experts included in the charges

The indictment also names a civil engineer and an architect from the Urbanism Sector of the Municipality of Struga. They are accused of preparing and approving the building permit without attaching the required conceptual demolition project, which prosecutors say aided the first accused in committing the criminal offence. The charges extend to the then-mayor of the Municipality of Struga, who issued the permit that, contrary to the Directorate's decision, allowed construction of a basement in addition to ground and upper floors.

Prosecutors further accuse an architect-conservator from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Museum – Ohrid of assisting the first accused. She allegedly produced a favorable opinion on the project's compliance with the Directorate's guidelines and certified technical documentation that included plans for basement rooms, again contrary to the Directorate's decision.

The indictment says that, as a result of the defendants' actions, the protected old Struga house on Braca Miladinovci Street in Struga was damaged on October 15, 2025. The case will now proceed through the court process.

Photo: press material from the event