Inspector's testimony: owner did not show licence, access to 'Puls' blocked by parked cars

An inspector from the Regional Centre for Border Affairs East - Delčevo testified at the trial linked to the fire at the Puls cabaret in Kocani that the venue's owner did not present a valid operating licence during a 2023 inspection and that access to the building had been obstructed by parked vehicles.

Key points from the witness

Despina Simeonova, a standalone inspector who works for the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2001, said she carried out continuous duties as an inspector for foreigners in 2022 and 2023, including both office work and field inspections. She told the court that checks in Kocani focused on hospitality venues, hotels, motels, nightspots and apartments to detect irregular or illegal stays by foreigners.

Describing how operations were organised, Simeonova explained that when inspectors act under the Law on Foreigners they work alone, but that joint operations take place under operational plans with other agencies.

In her testimony she said: "When we work in our part, according to the Law on Foreigners, the work can be single and in that case we proceed only the inspectors for foreigners. When we work according to operational plans, annex-plans from the Ministry of Internal Affairs - BJB, that means that we have joint actions with other inspectorates, with colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the Market Inspectorate, Labour and social welfare and other necessary inspectors, who are covered by that operational plan depending on needs."

Simeonova said controls at Puls occurred on several occasions in 2022–2023 and were always within her remit, with reports filed to the Regional Centre for Border Affairs East after each check. She told the court that inspections were carried out at night, initially from 22:00 to 03:00 and later from 23:00 to 04:00.

About the situation in front of the cabaret, she testified that passing was impossible because of parked cars: "It is chaos, in one word - you can't pass. The car park used by the nearby hotel is full, and on the street in front of the nightclub you cannot pass because of parked vehicles."

Simeonova also described the moment when staff asked the owner to show business documentation. She said that at the request of her colleague Zlatko Kuzmanovski, responsible for the action plan, the licence for Puls was requested in her presence. According to her account, owner Dejan Jovanov did not show the licence and told them the bookkeeper was not on site and that the document would be brought on Monday; he also said he had submitted renewal documents in Skopje 15 days earlier and that the licence was valid until 31 March 2023. Simeonova said that detail was recorded in the report that night.

The criminal proceedings against nine police officers linked to the Puls fire are continuing with further witness testimony and the presentation of material evidence proposed by the prosecution.

Photo: press material from the event