The Plovdiv District Court imposed the most severe measure of detention “detention“ on the five minors accused of the brutal intentional murder of 37-year-old Georgi Kuzev from Krichim. The crime, committed on August 4th on the emblematic Youth Hill, shocked the public with the revealed sadistic details, the abuse of the victim and the subsequent cynical behavior of the perpetrators.
A total of 10 minors aged between 14 and 17 were initially detained by the Ministry of Interior. The Prosecutor's Office brought serious charges against five of them – three boys and two girls, who have been proven to have personally inflicted the fatal injuries.
Ominous revelations from the investigation: An hour of sadism, goons and doner kebabs with blood money
According to official data provided by the Plovdiv District Prosecutor's Office and the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, the murder was committed in a particularly torturous manner, with exceptional, inhuman cruelty. The supervising prosecutor Anelia Trifonova and judge Petko Minev revealed details that go beyond conventional notions of teenage aggression:
- Duration of Torture: The brutal beating and physical abuse lasted for more than an hour.
- Sadistic bastards: Within that hour, the abusers shaved the victim's eyebrows, extinguished cigarette butts on his body, drew Nazi swastikas on him, and spat on him.
- Videos on the web: The attackers filmed the entire beating and abuse with their mobile phones, then uploaded the shocking footage to social media, boasting about their deed. The video was later removed from the platforms.
- Robbery for fun: After beating the man to a pulp, the minors stole his last 30 (or 39) euros, with which they immediately went to buy doner kebabs.
The medical examination shows the horrific extent of the damage: Georgi Kuzev suffered a severe head injury, as well as irreversible lacerations to his lung, liver and kidneys. Despite his condition, he managed to get down the hill alone in a helpless state, where he was noticed by a passerby who called 112. The man died hours later in a Plovdiv hospital.
The trap in social networks: Who are the so-called “pedophile hunters“?
The investigation has conclusively proven that the attack was pre-planned. A 17-year-old girl from Stara Zagora created a fake profile on a dating app, posing as a 15-year-old. She lured Kuzev to a meeting on the Youth Hill, where the entire group, self-proclaimed “pedophile hunters“, was waiting in ambush.
Senior Commissioner Vasil Kostadinov, Director of the Department of Internal Affairs - Plovdiv, emphasized that the victim did not hide his real age in communication and there is absolutely no evidence that Georgi Kuzev had pedophile tendencies. However, the young people acted with a radical ideology and a preliminary attitude towards self-harm. The checks showed that two of the group have a history of similar aggressive behavior at another busy intersection in the city.
Most of the accused are described as middle-class children studying in elite Plovdiv schools, while the 17-year-old organizer does not study anywhere. The most aggressive in the beating was a 15-year-old teenager from the village of Stroevo, who is said to have been the leader of the execution.
Reactions and measures of the parties involved
The position of the court and the prosecutor's office: Judge Petko Minev stated that the minors have shown extreme cynicism and lack of respect for human life. According to him, there is a real danger that they will commit another crime if they are released. For this reason, they remain behind bars.
Defense of the accused: The teenagers' lawyers announced that they will appeal the detention measures within three days before the Court of Appeal in Plovdiv (the case is scheduled for August 13). Lawyer Katya Antonova, defending the youngest (14-year-old) participant, said that children are strongly influenced by social networks and their parents have lost control. The lawyers claim that the minors are remorseful and did not have a direct intention to cause death.
The relatives and residents of Krichim: The victim Georgi Kuzev had an extremely difficult fate - years ago his parents died on the spot, struck by lightning, and he took care of his younger sister alone, supporting himself with honest agricultural labor. The mayor of Krichim, Atanas Kalchev, issued an official statement calling the pedophilia accusations "ridiculous" and calling for an objective investigation. A silent vigil was held in Krichim; relatives are demanding maximum sentences and the public disclosure of the killers' identities.
If found guilty, the law provides for reduced sentences due to their minor age: for those over 16, the sentence is from 5 to 12 years of imprisonment, and for those under 16 - from 3 to 10 years of imprisonment.