Nikola Nikolov - Pascal himself requested his rapid extradition to the Bulgarian authorities. In an interview for "Around the World and in Our Country" Marin Markovski - the accused's lawyer - said that Nikolov had submitted a request to the Serbian Minister of Justice, with which he wished to be extradited to our country.
This was summarized by BNT.
Within a year, two court instances - first the High Court of Belgrade, and then the Court of Appeals approved the request of the Bulgarian prosecutor's office and gave the green light for the extradition of Nikola Nikolov - Pascal. The case reaches the Minister of Justice in Belgrade, who has the final say.
Dimitar Markovski, lawyer for Nikola Nikolov - Pascal:
The initiative for the urgent return of Mr. Nikolov came from him and his defenders, so that the process of his extradition would not be delayed, he withdrew this request before the minister and stated that he wished to be immediately handed over to the Bulgarian authorities. So that he could participate in these criminal proceedings that are taking place here.
Lawyer Markovski confirmed that yesterday Nikola Nikolov gave brief explanations in his capacity as an accused at the Anti-Corruption Commission. Both Pascal and his defense attorney are about to get acquainted with the evidence collected so far in the investigation.
Dimitar Markovski, lawyer for Nikola Nikolov - Pascal:
Do you plan, after you have become familiar with the materials in detail, to give additional explanations and thus assist the investigation?
Yes, most likely we will have such a procedural reaction with him. I want to get acquainted with all the materials on the pre-trial proceedings and, if necessary, we will supplement the explanations we have given.
It turned out that in addition to participation in an organized criminal group, as well as the smuggling of three packs of cigarettes, Nikola Nikolov also has another charge.
Dimitar Markovski, lawyer for Nikola Nikolov - Pascal: For possession of excise goods, which is related to the charge of smuggling. That is. we have secondary charges and mainly for participation in an organized criminal group.
According to Markovski, the charges raised coincide entirely with those for the in absentia involvement of Pascal and those indicated in the Request for Extradition sent to the Serbian authorities. The defense's thesis is that Nikolov was not fleeing justice, but had been receiving treatment in Belgrade since the summer of last year.
"Mr. Nikolov left about 15 days before the "Customs" operation, in which the boss, Ms. Bankova, Mr. Kotsev, was detained and before the involvement of these other participants in the so-called "group", according to the prosecutor's office. Therefore, I believe that he is not a fugitive and is not a person who is hiding from law enforcement agencies in Bulgaria. I understand that a mythology is being built around the name of Mr. Nikolov, but I want to tell you that he is a man who is not young, he is 64 years old, with quite severe and serious health problems.
Pascal and his lawyer have presented all the documents for the treatment in Belgrade from the summer of last year until the day of his extradition to us.
Source: bntnews.bg