Skopje, 2 April 2026 (MIA) — The brother of the woman who committed suicide alongside her 6-year-old daughter on March 2 testified Thursday that his sister was driven to despair by her husband’s abuse, blackmail and scheming to steal her property.

Aleksandar Stojanovski took the stand in the trial of Stojanche Jovanovski, who is accused of driving his wife, Ivana Jovanovska, and their daughter, Katja, to jump from a balcony to their deaths. 

Stojanovski told the court that his sister was living in a "constant state of fear." He testified that the defendant isolated Ivana from her friends and family starting in late 2024.

He claimed Jovanovski had demanded EUR 30,000 to leave the family apartment and allegedly forged documents to transfer Jovanovska's property into his own name without her consent.

"As a brother, I felt the need to finish what my father started," Stojanovski said, referring to his sister's divorce initiated before his father’s death, when their father had hired a divorce lawyer to represent her. 

When asked why his sister returned to the defendant after briefly moving in with her mother, Stojanovski said she was forced to. "She went back out of fear for her own life and the safety of her daughter," he said. 

He said the family stopped legal proceedings regarding their father’s inheritance because they feared Jovanovski would harm his wife to take her inheritance. They also received threats that their mother's property would be set on fire.

The family did not report the domestic threats to police at the time because they expected Jovanovski to be imprisoned on a separate drug charge, which they hoped would provide her with a chance to escape, Stojanovski said.

Tanja Spirovska, a neighbor, testified regarding the atmosphere in the apartment building where Jovanovski lived. She claimed she heard violence for two years, including a night where the 6-year-old girl was heard screaming, "Daddy, you’re going to kill Mommy."

Spirovska testified that she called the police twice but claimed officers were dismissive. On one occasion, she said a "rude and irritated" inspector threatened to file a criminal complaint against her for false reporting because the screams could not be heard from the hallway, only through the floors of the apartments.

The public prosecutor has withdrawn the request to question the defendant's mother, saying the facts of the case have been made clear. The trial will continue with the presentation of material evidence. mr/