The Sofia City Court confirmed to NOVA that a case has been opened in the court for Evelin Banev's early release on parole. This is happening at the suggestion of the head of the Sofia prison, which states that the man known by the nickname Brendo has reformed.
By order of Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev, the grounds for the request are being examined. Until the examination is completed, the head of the prison will be temporarily removed from office. He did not inform the Director General of the Directorate for the Execution of Sentences or the Ministry of Justice about the proposal.
A proposal for conditional early release can be made by the district prosecutor or the prison warden. In order to submit the proposal, two conditions must be met simultaneously - the prisoner must have provided evidence of his reformation and must have actually served no less than one-half of the imposed sentence, and in cases of dangerous recidivism - no less than two-thirds of it. It is the fulfillment of these two conditions that will be checked in total by order of Minister Georgiev.
Evelin Banev was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison in all cases against him that were brought in Bulgaria, Italy and Romania. These are sentences for drug trafficking and money laundering that have entered into force. In Bulgaria, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2018, and a year earlier in Italy he received 20 years for international cocaine trafficking. He also has a 10-year prison sentence in Romania.
After being wanted for 6 years, he appeared alone in June 2024 in front of the Sofia prison and asked to serve his sentences in our country. To this day, it is not clear how Brendo came to Bulgaria, despite his search.