The Sofia Court of Appeal left the mayor of Varna Blagomir Kotsev in custody, Nova TV reports. He is accused of participating in a criminal group and of demanding a bribe.
Kotsev's defense requested the removal of the chairman of the court - Stefan Iliev, on the grounds that he was not randomly selected. According to her, he was assigned by the administrative head of the Sofia Court of Appeal, which is a violation of the law.
"The removal of the chairman of the panel was requested, since he was appointed without random selection, which is the obligation", commented Kotsev's lawyer Ina Lulcheva.
The panel also includes magistrate Venelin Ivanov, who was part of a special court, closed precisely at the proposal of the PP-DB, of which Kotsev is a member. This also made Ivanov biased, believes lawyer Ina Lulcheva.
"The case is political and not based on allegations and discussions of policies, but on the basis of legal criteria that I presented to the court. In no case does the fact that someone said something mean that it is true without the court verifying it", she commented.
The defense again reiterated its thesis that the prosecution has not been working on this investigation for 10 months, and also refused to re-interrogate former deputy mayor Dian Ivanov, who several times publicly announced on his Facebook profile that his initial statements were given under pressure from the Anti-Corruption Commission. The prosecution counters that they should still be credited, and if pressure was exerted - it could also be from a non-state institution. According to the state prosecution, there is a risk that Kotsev will go into hiding or commit a new crime if he is released from custody.
Kotsev himself stated that there should be an investigation and that he has no objection to leaving the mayoral seat if this will return him to his family.
The prosecution did not find grounds for the requested recusals, as no specific circumstances in the specific case were specified.
After the hearing, the court decided that it did not find the request unfounded. Iliev was appointed by order of the deputy chairman, and this right regarding preventive measures was granted to him by a decision of the general meeting of the court and in no way violates the random distribution.
The fact that he is a rapporteur does not make him biased, these proceedings are quick and have already been postponed due to the recusal of the entire panel, the CAC also points out.
For Venelin Ivanov - no personal reasons have been given that he will be biased. After the closure of the special court, by virtue of a legal norm he became a magistrate in the CAC. The fact that he worked in a special court, closed by the then ruling PP party, in no way means that he is against Kotsev, elected with the list of the same formation, the court also points out.
We recall that Blagomir Kotsev has been behind bars for two months. Last week, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, headed by its deputy chairman Alexander Zhelyazkov, recusal. Magistrates Zhelyazkov, Atanaska Kitipova and Desislav Lyubomirov cited as the reason: “a biased, manipulative false claim about existing “addictions“ planted in society.
A new judicial panel was elected, but one of its members – the former head of the Appellate Special Court Georgi Ushev also refused to decide the case. Thus – his place in the panel must be filled by a new judge.