The Ohrid Basic Court acquitted Borche Angelov and Iliya Spaseski of charges in the case of the attack on Hristiyan Pendikov. The decision was made during the new hearing of the trial, returned by the Bitola Court of Appeal after appeals by the prosecution and the defense.
The hearing was solely on the case, and no new evidence was presented. The judge stated that the reasons for the decision would be presented in writing. No further appeal has been reported.
The case began after the attack in 2023.
The case dates back to the evening of January 19, 2023, when Hristiyan Pendikov, secretary of the "Tsar Boris the Third" association, was attacked in front of a restaurant in Ohrid. In the incident, he suffered two cracked vertebrae, a broken jaw, cracked ribs and three broken teeth. Pendikov was transported for treatment to the Military Medical Academy in Sofia.
Initially, Iliya Spaseski was charged in the case, and later Borche Angelov was also brought to the case. Both denied any guilt. The case lasted almost two years, with witnesses for the prosecution and defense being questioned, and the hearings being postponed multiple times.
The first sentence was for eight months in prison
In March 2025, the Basic Court in Ohrid sentenced Angelov and Spaseski to eight months in prison each for causing grievous bodily harm. At that time, the court did not accept the "hate motive" related to Pendikov's Bulgarian identity as proven. Both the prosecution and the defense appealed the decision, after which the Court of Appeal in Bitola returned the case for a new hearing.
Bulgarian MPs also arrived in Ohrid for today's hearing, expressing surprise and disappointment at the new decision. Pendikov previously stated: “No one should be favored and we should all be equal before the law.“
Sources: btvnovinite.bg, vesti.bg, bntnews.bg