The Court of Appeal in Sofia confirmed The 20-year sentence of Georgi Semerdzhiev. This was announced by the institution, quoted by BTA. In April last year, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a city court for the crash on Black Peak Boulevard in July 2022 that killed two young women.
So far, it has been established in the case that Semerdzhiev drove at 166 km/h after using narcotic substances. The court also affirmed the conviction on the charges of running a red light, driving with a false license plate and false license plates, and possession of drugs in the car.
The Court of Appeal also confirms the compensation awarded to the relatives of the deceased in the amount of BGN 700,000, as well as the costs of the case.
The decision of the SAC is subject to appeal and protest before the Supreme Court of Cassation.
"A second version of what happened was checked before the second instance. And she was discredited. It must therefore be rejected. "I hope that the defendant will not present a third version before the Supreme Court of Cassation," Vladislav Vladimirov, the prosecutor in the case, pointed out about a month ago in his pleading.
According to him, Semerdzhiev's theory that he was kidnapped and drugged, as well as that he was not driving the car on the night of the accident, was rejected a long time ago.
Semerjiev's initial version, immediately after his arrest, was that he was kidnapped, and his second version, after the appeal of the city court's sentence, was that he was not driving the car on the night of the accident.
Additional examinations rejected the second version of the defendant. All the evidence indicates that Semerdzhiev used drugs on the day of the incident, the prosecutor's office pointed out.
According to the state prosecution, the effect of methamphetamine is like a loss of all inhibitions.
It has been proven that it was Semerdzhiev who drove the jeep. The City Court has rightly increased the penalty for the cynical way in which two girls died. Therefore, the penalty should not be reduced. With such a sentence, I hope to achieve a disciplinary effect both on the defendant and on society, the state prosecution pointed out.
The parents of the dead girls and their lawyers requested the same from the appeals court.
The defense was of the opinion that Semerdzhiev was not driving the jeep that crashed. The motives of the city court were defined as a literary narrative by Semerdzhiev's lawyer - Miroslav Hristov. According to him, some of the statements in the judgment of the first instance are confirmed by evidence.
Hristov requested that the case be sent back to collect more evidence, as according to him, the prosecutor's office did not collect everything necessary for the trial.
In his last word, Semerdzhiev also asked for the case to be returned to gather more evidence.
Meanwhile, the Sofia District Court (SDC) sentenced Georgi Semerdzhiev to two years in prison, under an initial strict regime, for using a false document for driving a motor vehicle (MPS). Semerdzhiev will have to pay for wages and expenses in the court case.
According to the judges in the case, through the collected evidence, as well as from the questioning of the witnesses, it was established beyond doubt that on February 14, 2022 in Sofia, Semerdzhiev used a false official document for driving a motor vehicle, which was given the type , that it was issued in Switzerland.