SKOPJE (Reuters) -More than 30 people accused of public safety offences over the deaths of 63 people in a nightclub fire in North Macedonia in March went on trial on Wednesday.
The blaze was triggered by flares lit during a hip hop performance that set fire to the ceiling of the packed Pulse club in Kocani, which authorities said did not have a proper licence or sufficient fire exits or extinguishers.
The dead were mostly young and the incident has triggered widespread marches in the Balkan country calling for justice. Some 170 other people were injured.
On Wednesday the suspects were brought in handcuffs from jail to the courtroom in the capital Skopje. Dozens of family members of the victims attended the trial.
“We will have respect for the grief and pain of the relatives of the victims, everyone will have the right to tell their version of the case and to propose evidence … We will be transparent,” presiding judge Dijana Gruevska-Ilievska said in her opening remarks, as quoted in local media.
Thirty five people and three legal entities have gone on trial, according to the Balkan country’s news agency, MIA. They are accused of endangering public safety and omitting safety procedures.
The accused face jail terms from 10 years to life imprisonment.
The indictment includes the owner of the nightclub, a private security company and a construction company involved in modifications, chief prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said in June.
It also includes inspectors, civil servants, police officers, construction workers and club employees. Their names were not disclosed.
The indictment was being read to the court on Wednesday. The defendants have yet to enter any pleas. It is not yet known how long the trial will last.
(Reporting by Marjan Ognenovski; Writing by Ivana Sekularac and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Edward McAllister and Alison Williams)
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