Decision Expected Tomorrow on Whether Ivа Mihaylova Can Receive Treatment in Bulgaria After Crash in North Macedonia

A decision is expected tomorrow on whether Bulgarian citizen Ivа Mihaylova, who was injured in a road accident in North Macedonia, will be allowed to receive medical treatment in Bulgaria. BNT was the first to report on the case of the young woman, who has been unable to leave North Macedonia despite needing treatment following following the serious accident she is accused of causing.

Naser Rufi, Ivа Mihaylova's lawyer: "The prosecutor and the judge informed us today that tomorrow it will be determined whether such medical treatment will be possible. Today we submitted medical reports from a medical council and a commission, stating that the necessary treatment must be carried out in Bulgaria, and that North Macedonia does not have the conditions required to perform the type of surgery that the injured person needs. I believe the court will take this medical opinion into consideration, and I see no reason why treatment should be refused when such conditions do not exist in North Macedonia."

The Court Case in Kocani: Will Iva Mihaylova Be Allowed to Receive Medical Treatment in Bulgaria?

A major discrepancy between the prosecution's expert report in the case against Ivа Mihaylova, the statements of people travelling in the vehicle that collided with hers, and even the accounts of police officers who inspected vehicles entering Kocani marked the second hearing in the trial against the Bulgarian citizen.

No one claims that Ivа entered the oncoming lane of traffic. At this stage, that conclusion comes only from the expert report commissioned by the prosecution. The other two expert assessments, prepared by Ivа's lawyers, state the opposite — that the vehicle which collided with hers had entered her lane by 80–90 centimetres, leading to the crash.

None of the witnesses questioned so far — neither those travelling in the vehicle that collided with Ivа's car, nor the police officers who stopped vehicles, nor drivers travelling behind the vehicle involved in the collision — saw exactly how the accident occurred.

Naser Rufi, Ivа Mihaylova's lawyer: "We are absolutely certain, and our conclusions, those of my colleague Blagoya and my technical adviser, state that the other participant entered Ivа's lane and that she bears no fault whatsoever. I believe we will be able to prove this."

Ivа's lawyer again stressed that the speed limit at the section of road where the collision occurred was 90 km/h, and that she had been driving at a lower speed.