SKOPJE, North Macedonia: Thousands of people took to the streets of North Macedonia’s capital on Saturday demanding justice for the victims of a nightclub fire — the deadliest blaze in the country’s history — ahead of the trial next week of the club owner and others.
The March 16 fire and the ensuing stampede killed 63 people, most of them young revelers, and injured more than 200. It was sparked by a pyrotechnic flame that engulfed the roof of the crowded Pulse club in the eastern town of Kocani.
Protesters, including relatives of the victims, dressed in black and marched to the Criminal Court in Skopje, carrying large banners with photos of their loved ones.
Parents blame corruption and greed for the deaths of their children. Authorities said the venue had numerous and serious safety violations and was operating with the wrong license.
Natalija Gjorgjieska was among the families demanding justice on Saturday. Her husband, musician Andrej Gjorgjieski, was killed in the fire. “We demand the truth. Where did the mistakes occur, who didn’t respond, which institutions were late, who had the responsibility to prevent and did not?” she said.
The prosecution filed indictments for 34 people, among them the club owner, security guards and former mayors of Kocani, as well as representatives of three legal entities, including the security firm and the club owner’s companies. They are accused of “serious crimes against public security.”
Other defendants include inspectors, civil servants and former economy ministers. If found guilty, they face up to 10 years in prison.
Corruption has long plagued North Macedonia. The Berlin-based monitor Transparency International ranked North Macedonia in 88th place globally on its Corruption Perception Index last year, one of the worst rankings in Europe.
Bribes to authorities to skip licensing requirements and skirt safety regulations are commonplace.
The European Union has repeatedly expressed concerns over pervasive corruption in the country, identifying it as a major obstacle to the nation’s accession to the bloc. North Macedonia is a veteran candidate country, waiting for entry into the EU since 2005.
Thousands protest ahead of trial over deadliest fire in North Macedonia’s history
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Thousands protest ahead of trial over deadliest fire in North Macedonia’s history
- Protesters, including relatives of the victims, dressed in black and marched to the Criminal Court in Skopje
- Parents blame corruption and greed for the deaths of their children
UK child killer Ian Huntley dies after prison attack: police
- Huntley murdered 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in eastern England in 2002
- He suffered serious injuries when he was assaulted at Frankland maximum security prison in the northeastern English city of Durham on Feb. 26
LONDON: One of Britain’s most notorious child killers, Ian Huntley, died on Saturday following an attack in prison where he was serving a life sentence, police said.
Huntley murdered 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in eastern England in 2002, in a case that horrified the country.
Fifty-two-year-old Huntley suffered serious injuries when he was assaulted at Frankland maximum security prison in the northeastern English city of Durham on Feb. 26.
He “died in hospital this morning,” a spokesperson for the local police force said in a statement emailed to AFP.
A spokesperson for the government’s justice ministry said the double murder of Holly and Jessica “remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families.”
Huntley killed the two best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire, on Aug. 4 2002.
Their disappearance sparked a massive search involving hundreds of police officers and appeals for help.
A photograph of the two girls wearing matching Manchester United football tops became instantly recognizable to many Britons.
Their bodies were found almost two weeks later, dumped in a ditch several miles away.
Huntley, then a 28-year-old school caretaker, aroused the suspicion of police after he gave media interviews claiming to be concerned for the girls’ welfare.
He denied murdering them but was convicted at trial in 2003.
His girlfriend at the time, Maxine Carr a teaching assistant at the girls’ school, gave Huntley a false alibi and was jailed for perverting the course of justice. She now lives under a new identity.
Revelations that Huntley had been the subject of prior rape and sexual assault complaints led to the establishment of criminal checks for anyone working with children.
He had been attacked before in prison, most seriously in 2005 and 2010.
“A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing,” the spokesperson said, adding that prosecutors would consider bringing charges against his assailant.
