One of those detained for the brutal attack in the capital's "Lyulin" district is trying to leave custody, while his victim continues to fight for survival in the "Pirogov" intensive care unit. The paradox between the legal qualification of the act and the real condition of the victim reveals another hole in the criminal justice system in our country.
The lawyers of the underage attacker have filed a request to change his detention measure, citing "medical reasons". The move comes more than a month after the December 8 incident, in which two men were attacked without apparent provocation in front of a neighborhood store.
While the defense is pleading for humanity towards the accused, 42-year-old Dobri, on whose head the attackers jumped, remains in critical condition. According to his sister, Luiza Ilieva, he cannot breathe on his own, does not speak or move.
"On Monday, we found out quite by chance that the lawyer of one of Dobri's attackers has requested that he be released from custody for medical reasons. I want to ask what these medical reasons are, given that my brother is still fighting for his life?", Ilieva asked rhetorically on NOVA.
The key issue in the case is the legal qualification. Although the victim was admitted with a severe head injury and has been in a coma since the beginning, the charge against the 16-year-old and 34-year-old perpetrators is still for "causing moderate bodily harm".
This lighter qualification allows the defense to request lighter measures of detention. However, the victim's relatives and witnesses to the attack are adamant that this is an attempted murder.
"In my opinion, what happened to him is a pure crime and an attempted murder," said Valeria, close to the victim.
The incident that shook "Lyulin" took place in early December. According to investigators and witness accounts, the attackers were visibly drunk and attacked their victims with extreme cruelty, including jumping on the head of a fallen man.
The second victim escaped with fractures and has already given evidence, but the main witness - Dobri - remains trapped in a coma, and his relatives fear that the court may release the attacker before the investigation is complete.
The question remains whether the Prosecutor's Office will reclassify the charge into "attempted murder", which would block attempts to release the detainees, or whether the formality of the law will prevail over the medical facts.