Today, the Court of Appeal in Sofia is to hear the detention order of Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev and the others detained with him. Last week, the Sofia City Court left Kotsev in custody permanently, but his defense announced that it would appeal.
In a public distribution of the case, the three judges who will rule on the detention order were selected — these are Atanaska Kitipova, Alexander Zhelyazkov and Desislav Lyubomirov. The rapporteur in the case will be Judge Atanaska Kitipova.
Yesterday, Varna Deputy Mayor Dian Ivanov withdrew his testimony against Kotsev, stating that it was untrue and given under pressure from Anti-Corruption Commission officials.