A panel of the Sofia Court of Appeal is currently considering the detention order of Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev and the others detained with him. The session began shortly after 2:00 p.m., and then a break was given so that the defense could familiarize themselves with new documents presented in the case.
Kotsev's headquarters reported that they were a 59-page volume.
They also quoted the lawyer of the Varna mayor, Ina Lulcheva, according to whom the presented documents have no relevance to the current proceedings.
The hall is full of supporters of the mayor of Varna. A large part of the PP-DB parliamentary group is there, his family. There are also many police officers. Before the start of the session, the deputy chairman of the Sofia Court of Appeal, Alexander Zhelyazkov, called for refraining from political statements. The prosecutors made a remark that minors could not be present in the hall - this was referring to Kotsev's baby. He was taken out with the basket, the wife - Kamelia - remained.
Last week, the Sofia City Court ordered permanent arrest for Kotsev, but his defense appealed the decision.
The composition of the court that will hear the case was determined by public distribution. It includes judges Atanaska Kitipova (rapporteur), Alexander Zhelyazkov and Desislav Lyubomirov. Last night at the protest organized by "Justice for Everyone" before the Court Chamber, Velislav Velichkov announced that the public distribution in question was a sham, since only three judges were proposed - the on-duty judicial panel, and accordingly they were elected.
Meanwhile, the former deputy mayor of Varna Dian Ivanov withdrew his testimony against Kotsev. He stated that his words were untrue and given under pressure from employees of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
"Blago is no longer just a mayor, a father, a friend - he is also a symbol. A symbol of whether Bulgaria will be a free, legal state or a Eurasian dictatorship", the Bulgarian Bar Association declared earlier.
The Bar Council also issued a declaration in which it announced that it would send its representatives to the case.