The defense of 23-year-old Iva Mihaylova has filed a petition with six institutions in Bulgaria in connection with the international search and extradition requested by North Macedonia. The lawyers have ruled that the procedure is inadmissible due to her Bulgarian citizenship, bTV reported.
The Ministry of Interior announced that on October 13 at 7:38 p.m. it received a notification from Interpol Skopje for an international search and extradition request. No red notice has been issued for Mihaylova at this time. The department also specified that they have not taken any action to establish her whereabouts in Bulgaria.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the authorities in North Macedonia have issued an international arrest warrant. The Sofia City Court told bTV that they have not received a request for Mihaylova's extradition so far.
The defense disputes the admissibility
In their request, the lawyers refer to the provision of the Constitution, according to which a Bulgarian citizen cannot be extradited to another country for criminal prosecution, unless this is provided for in a ratified and effective international treaty. The defense claims that Bulgaria does not extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union.
Iva Mihaylova will also file a private appeal against the detention measure imposed on her in North Macedonia. The possible extradition request must be considered by the Bulgarian court, which will assess the grounds and motives for it.
Her health condition may also be taken into account
According to lawyer Emanuil Yordanov, Mihaylova's health condition may be important for the procedure. When asked whether the refusal of treatment by the authorities in North Macedonia could be taken into account, he replied: “In my opinion, the law provides for such an opportunity“.
Yordanov pointed out that such procedures usually last months. He gave an example of a case in which a Bulgarian court refused to hand over a Bulgarian citizen to Romania, and a subsequent repeated request about a year and a half later led to the termination of the new case after the presentation of the previous decision.
The next step is the possible official submission of the request from North Macedonia to the competent Bulgarian court. At the moment, such a document has not been received by the Sofia City Court.