On May 24, Blagoevgrad woke up to the news of a tragedy - the death of 16-year-old Ivana Stoyneva, who fell from the 5th floor of an apartment building after a party with young people.
A month ago, the second instance court also refused to uphold the charges against Alexander Georgiev, after accepting that the evidence collected at this stage did not sufficiently substantiate the accusation against him.
While waiting for the authorities to finish the investigation, Ivana's father begins to gather information himself. Through his daughter's online profile, Stoyne Stoynev discovers traces that, according to him, lead to a well-organized scheme for online drug sales to children.
Ivana's father stood before bTV to talk about his daughter, his doubts about the case and the questions that, according to him, remain unanswered. The family's lawyer, Ivaylo Yurukov, was also in the studio.
„A wonderful, alert child. She loved to draw. She went, visited a theater troupe. "She was too lively, too responsible," Stoynev said of his late daughter.
According to him, when she turned 16, she wanted to start working.
„She wanted to have some form of independence“, he said.
Stoynev said that he had not noticed any change in his daughter's behavior that would suggest drug use.
„No. There was nothing atypical in her behavior that would suggest anything like that“, the father said.
He rejected the claim that there was a party on the night of the tragedy.
„There was no party. That was the police version that blew up and it is not true. She was with her boyfriend - Dimitar Smilkov. They were boyfriends“, Stoynev pointed out.
According to him, he knew Dimitar.
“A normal child. No sign that there was anything that was not normal or not good“, he said.
Stoynev said that on the night of the tragedy, Ivana was at work first shift.
“Around 15:30-15:40. At 16:00, her shift ends. She hears from Natalia - her mother. She says: “Mom, we have guests at home“. Our eldest daughter was supposed to have a prom on the 25th. "I'm going to Mitko's to get some sleep, because tomorrow I'm on first shift," the father said.
He emphasized again that in his opinion this was not a coupon and questioned the version of drug collection.
"We can show this very easily. The police themselves are conflicting with themselves - first by saying that this was a drug coupon, second by saying that they ordered drugs 30 days or a month earlier," Stoynev said.
According to him, the quantities of drugs found and the measures taken are among the reasons for raising questions.
"If you were distributing something, would you buy it a month earlier?" The police version just blows out of nowhere," he said.
Stoynev criticized the way in which, according to him, the institutions acted when a person connected to the system was involved. He was referring to Dimitar Smilkov's mother - Nadezhda Dimitrova Chervenkova.
„Yes, he was covered up. He turned up many times. He's not even 16 yet“, he said of Dimitar.
According to him, Dimitar's mother covered him up because of drug-related problems and his behavior.
„He was expelled from three schools. He ran away twice and was declared a national wanted person. He was repeatedly detained with drugs. The system catches him and releases him, catches him and releases him - because of his mother. The city is not big, anyone can get this information“, Stoynev said.
He indicated that in his opinion the mother's influence was related to her work in the Ministry of Interior administration and the fire department.
„In Bulgaria there are umbrellas at the local level. When one of them is involved in some way, they act in such a way as to save only that person and only themselves“, said the father.
Stoynev said that on the night of the tragedy the family was not sought out first by the investigators.
„The police did not call us, did not look for us. On the evening in question, Nadezhda called us. It turns out that when a person from the system is involved, they only look for him and only act with him“, he said.
The family's lawyer Ivaylo Yurukov pointed out that officially the information on the investigation is limited.
“Officially, we know almost nothing. And that's how it should be. When an investigation is conducted, there is the so-called investigative secrecy“, he said.
However, according to him, the family has received data that, in his opinion, raises questions about the way the investigation is being conducted.
„We have received certain information that the investigation itself is not being conducted in an objective manner and that many of the actions taken by the police officers who arrived at the scene have made it possible to cover up the so-called hot spots at the crime scene“, said Yurukov.
Yurukov also commented on the circumstances surrounding Dimitar Smilkov's injuries.
„Ivana's father was informed by the director of the regional directorate in Blagoevgrad that this boy was crushed and was in hospital after falling from the fifth floor“, he said.
According to him, the family subsequently received other information.
„It became categorically clear to us that the boy did not jump or was pushed, but ran when the police arrived at the scene“, said Stoynev.
By In this case, the prosecutor's office has charged 20-year-old Alexander Georgiev, who was released due to lack of evidence.
„Dimitar and Alexander had a fight at 00:20. Dimitar starts running when the police go up to the apartment. Alexander has no way to escape. He is known to the system. Known to the Ministry of Internal Affairs“, Stoynev said.
According to him, Alexander was also associated with drugs.
„Multiple times. He both consumed and sold“, Stoynev said.
He raised the question of what the role of the people who were in the apartment was.
„I'm asking that too, and no one wants to answer us. No one wants to answer us, neither Alexander Georgiev, nor the fourth person in question, who is the biggest hoax in this whole thing – Metodi Simeonov – they were there“, he said.
Stoynev said that in his opinion there are many unknowns surrounding the case.
„The hicks are becoming too much and for me the system itself is covering up this murder“, he said.
He also spoke about the first actions of the police at the scene.
„After Nadezhda's call, we started looking for what was happening. When we went to the police, they greeted us with: „They got high and jumped. Your child is dead“. That is. Without the fact that they were from different places, at different times. Suspicions began to arise and I started looking for information“, Stoynev said.
„According to the protocol, they should secure the place. This is logical. By the time the forensics arrived, over 20-30 people had entered the apartment. They had moved furniture inside and so on. The hot tracks had already been destroyed“, Stoynev said.
According to him, the case was headed in a certain direction in the first hours.
“Someone decided that they had solved the case in the first hours. For me, the case was simply swept away even then“, he said.
“This system was created solely and exclusively to protect someone, but not society. There are other children involved - children of a judge in Blagoevgrad. They bought drugs from Dimitar and Alexander," the father added.
Stoynev also spoke about the moment the family arrived at the scene.
He also asked questions about the information he found on Ivana's phone.
"That it was used," Stoynev said.
According to him, a large part of the conversations in her profiles were written by another person.
"Over 80% of the things written in these chats were written by a man," he said. According to him, the police told him this after a psychological analysis of the chats.
Stoynev said that the conversations contained data on drug orders.
"You choose. You order. You pay. You are given an account number“, he said.
According to him, there was also a menu: “First, second, third. You can choose“, he said.
He indicated that according to him, Instagram, Telegram and Signal were used, as well as payments via cryptocurrencies and Revolut.
“After they verify that they have made the payment, they also send the location, plus the video, where to pick it up“, Stoynev said.