Ohrid Defendant Takes Stand in Bulgarians' Drowning Case

On September 5, the Macedonian tour boat “Ilinden” sank into the waters of Lake Ohrid, killing 15 Bulgarian tourists on board. Photo by BGNES

The trial for the tourist boat Ilinden, which sank in the Macedonian Ohrid Lake on September 5, 2009, was finally given the green light on Monday.

The Ohrid Court is resuming the case after it obtained official rights to try in absence Branko Baic, the representative of the German company Lloyd, which issued the necessary certificate ensuring Ilinden can be used to transport tourists.

Baic, who issued the certificate only four months before the tragedy, failed to appear twice for the court sessions. He was once again a no-show on Monday.

After the accident, the vessel's captain, Sotir Filevski was arrested immediately and was held 30 days in custody. At present, he is under house arrest.

Baic and Filevski are charged with reckless endangerment causing the sinking of the tour boat. 15 Bulgarian tourists drowned in the tragic accident.

At the time of the tragedy 55 people were on board of Ilinden, instead of the allowed maximum of 43. One passenger had to be seated inside the captain's cabin due to the overload. Braic had issued a total of three certificates that the boat had passed technical inspection.

Filevski took the witness stand for over three hours Monday, saying he preferred to die instead of the 15 Bulgarians; offered deepest sympathy to the families of the victims, but insisted he was not guilty for the tragedy.

The defendant said it was the fault of the Ohrid navigation authority because they had not been conducting any technical checks of vessels since 2004. From 2007 to 2009, the certificates have been issued only by Lloyd and its representative Braic against an annual fee of EUR 500 and a 20-minute inspection – never while the vessel was moving.

The representative of the Ohrid navigation services also appeared before the magistrates, but failed to offer any clear explanations why they have not controlled the technical state of the vessels used in the lake, according to the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR.

Other witnesses are to take the stand later this week.

Bulgarian lawyers are discussing if they should file civil claims for the families of the victims with this trial or have a separate civil case. They will also ask for a revision of the expert report in the cause of the sinking with the inclusion of ship navigation engineers to determine the stability of Ilinden.

Bulgaria is conducting a parallel probe and is still awaiting the medical experts report.

At the time of the tragedy, there were 54 Bulgarian tourists and three crew members on board. The tourists were going on a trip to the Monastery of Saint Naum, situated south of the city of Ohrid. About 200-300 meters from the shore, the boat sank in minutes.

According to the official documents, the vessel had the capacity for 43 people.

The versions about the cause of the sinking of the ship have to do with overloading, a torn balancing rope, incorrect distribution of the people on board, and mistakes by the captain.

The Bulgarian organizer of the ill-fated trip to Ohrid a year ago, Boryana Georgieva, has already been sentenced for carrying out business activities in violation of the Tourism Act. She was sentenced to pay a fine of BGN 4 500, and was banned from commercial activity for 2 years.

The Ilinden vessel was produced in 1924 in Regensburg, Germany, as a military boat later refashioned into a tourist ship. Its last technical check had been carried out by Lloyd in May 2009.

Bulgaria has awarded medals and citizenship to the Macedonians who took part in the rescuing of the drowning tourists, most of whom came from the Bulgarian town of Pirdop.

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