Family members of the victims of the Tetovo modular hospital tragedy staged a protest in front of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of North Macedonia on Friday. They demanded the removal of the state’s Chief Prosecutor, Lubomir Joveski.

In September 2021, a fire at the modular hospital in Tetovo claimed the lives of 14 individuals who were receiving treatment for COVID-19.

Two directors of the modular hospital were sentenced by a Tetovo court to one and a half years of conditional imprisonment in connection with this incident.

Protesters on Friday expressed concerns that the trial had left unanswered questions and suggested that investigations into the causes of the fire may have been deliberately concealed to prevent the truth from emerging.

The fire was ignited by an electrical cable in the late hours of September 8, 2021.

A family member of a deceased patient from the Tetovo hospital said, “We urgently request the initiation of a new legal procedure to investigate the causes of the fire and a thorough review of all decisions made during the preliminary trial at the Tetovo court”.

The hospital director, Florin Besimi, and the former economic director, Artan Etemi, were found guilty of failing to install informational signs in the hospital premises and fire suppression equipment.

However, an investigation conducted by the Investigative Journalism Network (IJN), titled “Murder in Tetovo”, revealed that the COVID-19 modular hospitals, including the one in Tetovo, were constructed “inappropriately, bypassing many legal procedures”.

The protest organizer claimed that the judicial process “has demonstrated that the justice authorities serve as the primary protectors of organized crime, effectively holding the state hostage. Therefore, we are demanding the removal of the head of the prosecution, along with judges and other prosecutors facing criminal charges”.

Activist Elmedina Abdullahu expressed, “People are deeply upset and will continue to seek justice. They desire to live in a normal, functioning state that provides security for everyone. At the moment, we do not feel safe within our state”.

Another protester alleged that selective justice prevails in North Macedonia, particularly when individuals in positions of power are involved.

“The judiciary, along with politics, are the only facets that do not function properly here due to their ties to crime and corruption. Without improvements in the judicial system, we cannot have a functioning state. This is a fact that everyone should acknowledge. We can protest every day, today, tomorrow, and beyond, but unless we take a stand, justice and a functioning state will remain elusive,” another protester emphasized.

In relation to this tragic incident, which triggered widespread reactions and protests, Health Minister Venko Filipče tendered his resignation on September 10, 2021. However, his resignation was not accepted by the then-Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev.