Supreme Court explains annulment of Court of Appeal ruling in Laskarci bus crash

The Supreme Court of North Macedonia has annulled the Court of Appeal's verdict in the Laskarci bus tragedy and returned the case for reconsideration, saying the appellate court did not sufficiently examine the connection between the defendants' actions and the crash or order a supervisory expert examination of the driver’s medical condition. The crash in 2019 left 16 people dead and about 30 passengers injured.

Supreme Court points to gaps in expert findings and reasoning

In its written explanation the Supreme Court noted that existing expert reports and the supervisory examination attribute the crash to the failings of the convicted driver M.T., while also pointing out the bus’s poor technical condition. The court said those findings did not specify "in what measure such defects influenced and how they contributed to causing the subject accident."

The Supreme Court further highlighted that the expert analyses show there were no skid marks at the scene. The court also found that the traffic situation developed when the bus was steered left, left the center lane, and that, based on distances and time, the driver had no technical possibility to avoid contact with the first flexible metal guardrail by braking.

The court questioned how the Court of Appeal concluded that it was indisputable that the actions of the other convicted persons contained the elements of the criminal offenses charged, saying the appellate decision did not clearly ground that conclusion on the facts and evidence.

Regarding the driver M.T., who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, the Supreme Court said a supervisory expert examination was necessary because conflicting expert opinions had been submitted by opposing parties.

The Court of Appeal had on May 9 increased several sentences: the owner of "Durmo Tours", Durmish Beluli Beluli, had his prison term raised from four to ten years; the company’s transport manager, Remzi Miftari, was raised from six to ten years and is currently at large; and three employees at the technical inspection station received sentences of five and seven years. The accident took place in 2019.

Photo: press material from the event