The district court in Varna returned for the second time the indictment submitted by the prosecutor's office for the pollution of Lake Varna by a sewage pipe, reported varna24.bg.
This time, only the former mayor of Varna, Ivan Portnih, stood before the court as a defendant. With a decree from March this year, the prosecutor's office separated the materials from the pre-trial proceedings against the other two defendants in the case and sent them under the competence of the Administration of the European Delegated Prosecutors of the Republic of Bulgaria. The Varna District Court also gave this direction at the previous injunctive hearing.
The civil claim filed by the Municipality of Varna for damages as a result of the committed crimes was not admitted for joint examination. According to the court panel, given the factual and legal complexity of the case, consideration of the civil claim would delay and complicate the court proceedings. The materials from the investigation submitted to the court are 55 volumes.
The three-judge panel unanimously agreed that the state prosecution did not comply with the court's instructions from the previous disposition hearing, held on February 14 of this year. And in the new indictment, substantial but remediable procedural violations have been admitted again – contradictions between the facts set forth in the circumstantial part of the indictment and its operative part. The court considered that the discrepancy between Ivan Portnich's accusation in the pre-trial proceedings and what is stated in the now submitted indictment constitutes a significant violation. This has limited his ability to defend himself effectively.
Due to the stated considerations, the Varna District Court terminated the judicial investigation and returned the case to the prosecutor's office for elimination of the committed violations.
The decision of the court can be appealed or protested within seven days from today.
The case concerning the pollution of Lake Varna, in which Ivan Portnih is accused, was returned to the prosecutor's office again
According to the court, significant but remediable procedural violations were again committed - contradictions between the facts set forth in the circumstantial part of the indictment and its operative part
Jun 26, 2024 21:24 182
