Ohrid Court Finds Ship Captain, Technical Expert Guilty of Ilinden Sinking

A panel of three judges in the court of the Macedonian resort town of Ohrid has found the two defendants in Ilinden sinking trial guilty, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Ship captain Sotir Filevski and Branko Baic, an inspector with Germany’s Lloyd’s, were each sentenced to a year in prison.

Judge Milka Taneska passed the sentences in the absence of captain Filevski’s defense.

The captain will have the months spent in the preliminary detention unit and under house arrest deducted from his sentence. Thus he will stay in prison for a bit more than eight months. Branko Baic was sentenced in his absence.

According to the charges pressed and laws in force in Macedonia, the two defendants received minimum sentences. The laws provides for a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.

Judge Milka Taneska presented the reasons for the panel’s unanimous sentence orally in details. The motives are expected in written at the end of the month. After that the parties in the trial will be able to say whether they will lodge an appeal or not with the Court of Appeal in Bitola.

 

Source: FOCUS Information Agency