The District Court in Haskovo ruled that the mayor of the Municipality of Mineralni Bani Myumyun Iskender be removed from office. The judge in the trial, Daniela Nikolova, motivated her ruling with the arguments that although he has not been convicted, there is evidence of previous acts, including a crime in office and the existence of pending proceedings.
According to the court, there is not only alleged, but also objective evidence that the accused may take advantage of his official position to create obstacles in the investigation and prevent the disclosure of the objective truth.
The removal of Mayor Iskender was requested in connection with an investigation against him for intentionally committed crimes related to property dispositions regarding municipal real estate worth nearly one million leva. The charges are in four cases in the period from 2019 to 2025, including misuse of property owned by the church board in the village of Bryastovo.
Today's ruling is subject to appeal before the Court of Appeals – Plovdiv. According to the defense, Iskender will take advantage of this right. Both in the courtroom and on the sidelines of the court, Myumyun Iskender said that he does not believe that he committed the violations for which he is accused and has never interfered with the investigation, on the contrary - he cooperated with his entire administration.
The prosecutor in the case, Angel Kanev, said in the courtroom that the filing of reports against Myumyun Iskender by citizens and residents of Mineralni Bani continues, which are at least 2-3 on a monthly basis. After the hearing, on the sidelines of the court, the prosecutor explained to the media that they are mainly related to the fact that, in his capacity as mayor, Iskender has disposed of real estate that is not municipal property, but was sold by the Municipality. Evidence is also being collected on the conclusion of contracts and the implementation of public procurement.
Angel Kanev said that projects have been prepared to attract Myumyun Iskender as a defendant for other crimes related to the disposal of the Municipality's funds for additional material stimulation (DMS). According to the prosecutor, they were not made in accordance with the statutory procedure and there is sufficient evidence of abuse.
At the moment, Myumyun Iskender is also on bail, which was imposed on him in proceedings in which he is accused of participating in an organized criminal group for abuse of European funds, reports BTA correspondent in Haskovo Krasimira Slavova.
The removal of Myumyun Iskender from office as mayor of Mineralni Bani is the second time. In May this year, the District Court - Haskovo granted the request of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office and removed Myumyun Iskender from the mayoral post. Later, the Court of Appeal in Plovdiv overturned the ruling of the district magistrates in Haskovo and Iskender continued to exercise his powers as mayor of Mineralni Bani.