After the arrest of Stoyan Mavrodiev, he will be brought before the first instance court in Serbia and there it will be decided whether to extradite him. The deadline is 18 days, and under the European convention 40. During this time, the Bulgarian prosecutor's office will require certain documents that will establish in a serious way that this person has been brought as a defendant based on some evidence. This was explained in the “Interview in NOVA News” lawyer Lyudmil Rangelov.
According to him, the detention procedure was facilitated by the European arrest warrant. From there, however, the classic extradition procedure takes place. It is the same in Bulgaria, explained lawyer Rangelov. Mavrodiev will have a defense lawyer, there will also be a prosecutor. The procedure will go through two court instances, as it is in our country. If the first instance decides to extradite him, he can appeal and the case goes to the Court of Appeal.
„It won't happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, unless he immediately voluntarily agrees to be extradited. This is a possible hypothesis. It is his decision whether to take advantage of it or not”, explained lawyer Rangelov.
The fact that Mavrodiev was charged in absentia, since he was no longer in the country in 2024, aggravates his situation before the Bulgarian court only with regard to the initial detention measure, explained the lawyer.
„When he is extradited, he will be brought before the court, which must decide what detention measure to take. The prosecutor's office will probably request detention in custody. In this sense, his situation is aggravated by the fact that there is sufficient information that he knew that he was wanted and was hiding. This hiding may serve as a basis for the first and second instance of the Bulgarian court to decide to place the person under a preventive measure of "detention in custody", said lawyer Rangelov.
Asked what could have made Mavrodiev appear in Belgrade, lawyer Rangelov said: "The only option is that he already has sufficient information about cases when the Serbian court does not extradite wanted persons", said lawyer Rangelov.
In Serbia, the final decision on extradition is made by the Minister of Justice, emphasized lawyer Rangelov.
He does not rule out the option that in our country Mavrodiev may request a deal with the state prosecution. “The prosecutor's chances of proving a crime in this case are not very high, because Mavrodiev signed a loan agreement that had previously been approved by the Management Board, and was also proposed by the Credit Council. This is not a personal decision. And when we have collective decisions and we know that in criminal law responsibility is personal, it is very difficult to realize such personal responsibility”, said lawyer Rangelov.