Supreme Court annuls convictions in Tetovo modular hospital fire
On 22 October the court accepted extraordinary-review requests, prompting a retrial in Tetovo for Florin Besimi and Artan Etemi after previous sentences were quashed.
The Supreme Court, at a session held on 22 October, granted requests for extraordinary review of the final convictions in the case of the modular hospital fire in Tetovo, where 14 people died during the COVID pandemic.
As a result of the decision, the previous convictions of the hospital directors, Florin Besimi and Artan Etemi, have been annulled and their cases will be retried in Tetovo.
Previous rulings and sentences
The Tetovo Basic Court earlier found Besimi and Etemi guilty of serious offences against public safety and sentenced each to 1 year and 6 months in prison. The Gostivar Court of Appeals subsequently increased those sentences to three years.
With the Supreme Court's acceptance of the extraordinary reviews, the appellate rulings have been set aside and the two men will again face trial in Tetovo, where the legal process will recommence from the trial level.
The case concerns the deadly blaze at the temporary modular hospital in Tetovo during the COVID period, which claimed the lives of 14 patients. The Supreme Court's procedural move does not itself determine guilt or innocence; it orders a fresh examination of the contested final judgments.
Photo: press material from the event
