Trial over 'Puls': Owner did not show operating licence and access was blocked by parked cars

At the trial of nine police officers over the fire at the Puls cabaret in Kochani, an independent inspector said the venue's owner, Dejan Jovanov, refused to show his operating licence during a 2023 inspection and that access to the building was effectively blocked by parked cars.

Inspector described checks, coordination and reporting

Despina Simeonova, an inspector with the Regional Centre for Border Affairs East – Delchevo, testified during the prosecution's direct examination that she has worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2001 and carried out both office and field duties as an immigration inspector throughout 2022 and 2023.

Simeonova explained how inspections are organised and when they work jointly with other agencies. She said that when they act under the Law on Foreigners only immigration inspectors act, but that on operational action plans they run joint raids with police, the market inspection, labour and social affairs inspectors and other bodies included in the plan.

“When we operate within our remit, under the Law on Foreigners, the work can be individual and in that case only the immigration inspectors act. When we work on operational plans, annex-plans from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Bureau for Security and Counterintelligence, that means we have joint actions with other inspectorates, with colleagues from the police, with the market inspectorate, labour and social affairs and other necessary inspectors that are covered by that operational plan, depending on needs,” Simeonova said.

She told the court that checks in Kochani mostly focused on hospitality venues — bars, hotels, motels and short-stay apartments — to detect irregular or illegal stays by foreign nationals. Inspections at Puls took place several times in 2022–2023, she said, always within her remit, and after each visit a report was prepared and forwarded to the Regional Centre.

According to Simeonova, the controls were carried out at night, initially from 22:00 to 03:00 and later from 23:00 to 04:00. She also described severe traffic congestion around the venue during the raids.

“It was chaos, in one word — you could not pass. The car park used by the nearby hotel was full, and on the street in front of the nightclub you could not get through because of parked cars,” she testified.

Simeonova recounted that the licence request was made in the presence of her colleague Zlatko Kuzmanovski, who was responsible for the action plan. She said Jovanov did not show the document and told inspectors it was too late to fetch the accountant and that he would bring the licence on Monday. He told them he had submitted renewal paperwork in Skopje 15 days earlier and claimed the licence was valid until 31 March 2023. Simeonova said she and her colleague noted that information in that night's report.

The trial continues with more witness testimony and presentation of material evidence proposed by the prosecution.

Photo: press material from the event