Oncology trial in Skopje: expert cross‑examined on treatment criteria

The trial in Skopje connected to the so-called "Oncology" case continued today at the Basic Criminal Court, with cross-examination of the court-appointed expert over the criteria used to assess the quality and effectiveness of oncological treatment. Defendants in the case are former Oncology Clinic director Nikola Vasev and oncologists Simonida Crvenkova and Dragan Jakimovski.

Under questioning from the prosecution, Dr. Vladimir Danilovski described which clinical parameters informed his findings and opinions about individual patients. He confirmed that his assessment took into account the effects of chemotherapy on healthy cells and the consequences of that damage.

When the prosecution asked Dr. Danilovski to list the clinical endpoints on which the quality and effectiveness of cancer therapy were judged, he identified overall survival, progression-free survival, tumor response rate, disease control, the therapy's safety profile and patients' quality of life. He said those were the bases for the expert opinion given in the submitted reports.

The defence objected to some of the prosecution's questions on the grounds that, for particular patients, the expert had not performed direct comparisons between different treatments to show whether one was better or worse. The court rejected those objections, saying the questions related to the expert's written findings and opinions for the specific patients and treatments under examination.

Defence raises translation and document concerns

Defence counsel Deljo Kadiev also challenged the scope of the material sent to experts in Slovenia for the purposes of foreign expert reports. Kadiev told the court that on 2 September 2026 he filed a motion asking the court to order the public prosecutor to provide translations from Macedonian into Slovenian and to confirm whether full medical histories had been transferred or only selected excerpts.

Judge Snezhana Markovska explained that the procedure for international legal assistance with the Republic of Slovenia goes through the Ministry of Justice and that, under the ratified intergovernmental agreement, documents are transmitted in the language of the requested state. Prosecutor Marija Gjorgjeva told the courtroom: "All medical histories with all files inside, which were submitted as evidence in the court and which are an annex to the indictment, were delivered to the expert in Slovenia. That is, the medical histories with all the files contained in them were given to the expert, submitted for expertise, and all of them were provided to the court as evidence."

At the start of the hearing the court denied the first defendant Nikola Vasev's request to disqualify the prosecution's technical adviser, Dr. Milan Risteski. Judge Markovska noted that Risteski's participation had already been accepted by the court, that he was examined regarding all patients referenced in the indictment, and that his technical reports had been admitted into evidence.

The proceedings concern charges against Vasev, Crvenkova and Jakimovski for continued serious offences against human health and for negligent treatment of patients. The case was initially also pursued against oncologist Mery Peshevska, who pleaded guilty and received a suspended prison sentence of two years.

Photo: press material from the event