A year after the tragedy, Kocani's wounds deepen

March 16, 2025, 2:32.

This is the date and hour that Kocanin, the city in eastern Macedonia, permanently changed.

It was there that the greatest tragedy this country experienced in its new history: a fire in the “Pulse” took 63 lives and hurt over 200 others.

At the same time and at the same time, a year after the tragedy, the victims' families and their friends remained silent and honored the deceased.

The names of each of them were written in a white heart hanging from the fences of the previous discotheque.

The names of the victims were written in the hearts hanging from the fences of the former discotheque.

The pain of relatives was not even smaller in the event that was organised on the morning of March 16th at the Cocan Revolution Park.

There, under the organization of municipality and parents of victims, 63 white chairs were placed.

“Sixty-three white chairs, 63 names, 63 lives that are missing, 63 lives bearing the silence of a missing presence, a white rose for memory, and a place that will never be filled” was the message at the entrance of the park.

A memorial event took place in the city at the House of Culture “Beli Mugri”.

It's been a year, and the wounds not only don't close but get deeper and more scary”, it was one of the messages that could be heard.

Many of the injured, according to doctors at the Kocan hospital, will continue to be treated for a long time and have yet to undergo various surgical interventions.

Some parents of the victims at a memorial event for the tragedy in Kocan.

What changed?

In search of justice during the past year, the victims ' parents were the most vocal.

Every Saturday, they organised the Angels' Marriage “on the streets of Kocan and held several gatherings in Skopje.

Shortly after the tragedy, checks were conducted in clubs and cafes, dozens of locals closed but still without any substantial change.

Every Saturday, parents organise the Angels' Marriage “” in Kocan.

One of the changes concerns is is is issuing licenses for nightclubs and other food service establishments, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy and Labor.

Minister Besar Durmish told Radio Free Europe that the law will be changed to the part where the <x0-> the side, with a personal statement, informs institutions that it has met the minimum technical requirements”.

He said a meeting has already been held with representatives of all food service premises on the subject.

We have informed him of all the changes we will present in the law. Therefore, first of all, a request will have to be submitted to the State Market Inspectorate. After submitting the request, inspectors will have to go out on the ground, conduct inspections and determine through data and photos if the side really meets the minimum technical requirements”, Durmish said.

Discoteca “Pulse” operated illegally and failed to meet technical requirements.

Fire that broke out at night critical, during a concert by the band DNK was triggered by the operation of three pyrotechnic devices.

Panic and narrow exit from the building also caused confusion.

The disaster that took place at the discotheque éPulseão in Kocan was not caused just by a person's neglect... This event is not a random accident or game of fate. It's about a whole network and a series of neglects linked”, Kocan prosecutor Borce Janv said in his opening statements on November 19th 2025.

On that date the trial began, where 35 people sat at the dock.

Three companies are involved.

Among the accused are owners and persons from the club ownership facility, former economy ministers, former mayors of Kocan, inspectors and other officials.

All will be tried for the same criminal act: “cause of serious crimes against public security”.

Although the prosecution is convinced that it will succeed in proving guilt, some of the public is skeptical that the indictment, as it is, will bring justice.

Besides formal challenges, there are material issues that contribute to the complexity and specificity of this case. For example, the indictment charges all the accused with the same criminal act, even though their roles, their actions, as well as the time period in which they took place, are radically different”, Free Europe Darko Avramovski, from nongovernmental organisation “Coalation ) for a fair trial”, tells Radio.

According to him, this “approach makes it difficult to individualise responsibility and clearly determine the cause-pass relationship for each individual” ) which will further affect the efficiency and justice of the process.

The trial is continuing, with an average of two hearing sessions a week, and the witnesses proposed by the Prosecutor are currently being questioned.

In addition to this process, two court procedures were launched in early March against some police officials for their actions.

An operation was also conducted in the preceding months in which inspectors from the Public Revenue Office were detained as suspects. / REL