„We continue the change“ collected the necessary signatures to convene an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly on the case of the pardon of Ognyan Atanasov, known by the nickname „Petrich Escobar“. The request was signed by deputies from PP, „Democratic Bulgaria“ and GERB.
The meeting is proposed for October 13 at 1:00 p.m. It will be dedicated to the pardon decree issued on December 5, 2022 by the then Vice President Iliana Yotova.
Who do the deputies want to hear
The PP insists on hearing the Director of the General Directorate “ Serving Sentences“ Ivaylo Yordanov, the Head of the Sofia Prison, Senior Commissioner Svetoslav Penov, and Vasil Kordev, who held the position in November and December 2022.
The questions are related to the preparation, verification and presentation of the medical conclusions used in the pardon procedure. The deputies also want to establish whether an incident from November 16, 2022 in the prison hospital was reflected and registered.
“There are the necessary signatures. They were collected from three parliamentary groups – “We continue the change“, “Democratic Bulgaria“ and GERB“, said PP MP Velislav Velichkov.According to him, it should also be clarified whether the Pardons Commission was notified of the incident when assessing Atanasov's behavior before issuing the decree.
Velichkov explained that the request does not include a hearing of a representative of the Pardons Commission, since its composition is not publicly known. PP insists that the names of the members of the commission and the medical commission, as well as the reasons for the pardon decrees, be announced.
The parliamentary initiative was prompted by video footage from the prison hospital, which shows Atanasov participating in a physical conflict. The National Assembly is about to consider the case by hearing the responsible leaders of the system for the execution of sentences.
Sources: bnrnews.bg, dariknews.bg