North Macedonia has been holding me hostage for almost a year now. This was stated by Iva Mihaylova - a defendant for participating in an accident near Kocani, before the trial in the case today. She has dual citizenship - Bulgarian and North Macedonian.
According to her, her health condition is deteriorating and she needs urgent treatment abroad, because the intervention she needs is not carried out in the country.
„The state has been holding me hostage for almost a year now, violating my human rights for absolutely no reason, because I am not to blame for the accident, and I need treatment that they are not allowing me. The doctors in Skopje said that my situation is complicated and physically every day I feel worse and worse. I feel quite severe pain and there is no way to help me here. Even painkillers don't help anymore. I just need treatment," 23-year-old Mihaylova told Bulgarian media ahead of today's fourth hearing in the case.
According to her, she does not feel safe after police entered her home "for a search without a document, plainclothes police officers stand in front of the house all day, and drones fly around it."
"They treat me as if I am the biggest criminal in (North) Macedonia. It is even absurd what I am saying right now, but unfortunately this is the truth," Mihaylova said, quoted by BTA.
Iva Mihaylova is accused of a serious crime related to road safety in North Macedonia. The accident occurred in early October 2025, and several people, including herself, were injured.
Iva Mihaylova's documents were taken away after the accident, which does not allow her to receive treatment in Bulgaria - one of the countries where this is possible due to the specific nature of her spinal injuries.
According to Iva Mihaylova, 8 applications - four to the court in Kocani and four to the Court of Appeal in Shtip, requesting that she be allowed treatment that is not applied in North Macedonia, but is carried out in Bulgaria, Israel and Turkey, have already been rejected, despite the conclusions provided by a competent health institution in North Macedonia regarding the severity of her condition.