Prosecution closes its evidence in the “Puls” tragedy trial: 49 hearings and 1,390 pieces of evidence — the defence begins on October 1 with 244 witnesses

The Public Prosecution has finished presenting its evidence in the trial over the tragic fire at the “Puls” discotheque in Kočani, which on March 16, 2025 took the lives of 63 people and injured more than 200 others, as the Fokus portal reports, referring to the briefing of the Skopje Basic Criminal Court held on September 30, 2026.

According to the court, 49 hearings have been held so far (40 of them this year) and no hearing has been postponed since the start of the trial; 15 more hearings are scheduled until the end of 2026. The prosecution presented its evidence on September 14 — a total of 1,390 pieces of material evidence — while 45 witnesses and 5 experts have been heard.

The defence evidence stage begins on October 1, while the defence has proposed hearing 244 witnesses. The trial is headed by judge Dijana Gruevska-Ilievska, while the prosecution is represented by a team of 15 public prosecutors.

Another key moment is the detention of the first defendant, Dejan Jovanov, known as “Gazda Deko”: according to the briefing, it legally expires on October 3. The defence has announced it will offer a property guarantee of almost 200,000 euros (not mandatory), but the court cannot decide without the opinion of the Public Prosecution, which by the time of the briefing had not yet been returned.