SHOTLIST:

SKOPJE, NORTH MACEDONIA (NOV. 19, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF SECURITY FORCES AROUND COURT

2. VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS WAITING OUTSIDE COURT

3. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING INSIDE COURT, INCLUDING LAWYERS SKOPJE, NORTH MACEDONIA - NOV. 19, 2025: The first hearing for the nightclub fire case was held on Wednesday, Nov. 19, in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje.

Sixty-three people were killed and more than 200 were injured during the incident, which occurred in Kocani on March 16.

The hearing took place at the Criminal Enforcement Institution Court in the Idrizovo district, with medical teams present and security forces having taken extensive security measures.

A total of 38 defendants — including 3 legal entities — are being tried for allegedly committing serious crimes against public safety.

The defendants include venue owners, managers, inspectors, former ministers, former mayors, security personnel, and civil servants.

The court announced that the next hearings will be held on November 25 and 26.

In her statement during the hearing, Judge Diana Gruevska Ilievska said it is impossible to predict how long the trial process might continue and that a swift judicial process should not be expected.

The incident, which killed 63 people and injured more than 200, broke out at the Kocani nightclub at 3:00 a.m. local time on March 16, after pyrotechnic substances caused the fire.

Reporting by Umeys Sulejman / Writing by Aye Elif Erdis