At the moment, I have no information that the prosecution has appealed the court's decision to release my client on bail. But there is still a deadline for them to do so. This was announced by lawyer Dimitar Markovski, commenting on the decision of the Sofia City Court to release his client Nikola Nikolov-Paskal on bail in the amount of 50,000 leva. The 64-year-old man was extradited from Serbia and detained in our country for 72 hours.
His lawyer categorically denied that his client is "smuggler #1", as he was called by the former head of the National Security Agency. "The words of senior officials from the National Security Agency are based on operational information. These are not proven facts. They cannot be used as regular and valid evidence“, he stressed.
And he added that Nikolov's presence in this criminal case will “reveal the mystification surrounding his image“, built over the years.
Regarding the suspicions that Pascal had returned to the country to assist the authorities and possibly participate in a political scheme, Markovski was categorical: “If there had been an agreement with the prosecution, we would have seen other results – a cash bail upon extradition, rather than a request for the most severe measure. This did not happen. He was detained for 72 hours, and the prosecution insisted in court for arrest, even though I provided proper medical documentation“.
The most discussed part of Nikolov's testimony is related to the mention of the names of the co-chairman of “We Continue the Change” Assen Vassilev and former Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov. "Mr. Nikolov did not have personal contact with Assen Vassilev or Boyko Rashkov. He passed on information that he heard from another defendant. These are not first-person statements", the defense attorney explained to NOVA.
However, Markovski emphasized that even such information has legal status. "The defendants' explanations are evidence within the meaning of the Criminal Procedure Code. They are subject to verification, but are part of the evidentiary process".
When asked why Assen Vassilev and Boyko Rashkov have not been questioned so far, Markovski explained: "This is a tactic of the investigation and a judgment of the investigating prosecutors themselves. They cannot be called without a serious set of evidence. It remains to be seen how the process will develop".