Kristian Nikolov remains in prison, despite the Sofia City Court having ruled on his conditional early release. The reason is that the court ruling has not entered into legal force after the prosecution appealed it.
The final ruling must be made by the Sofia Court of Appeal. There is no legally defined deadline for this decision. Until the procedure is completed, Nikolov continues to serve his sentence for the death of journalist Milen Tsvetkov.
What are the conditions for release
In front of Nova TV, the lawyer for Milen Tsvetkov's family Menko Menkov explained that for a convicted person who is not a repeat offender, the first mandatory prerequisite is that at least half of the imposed sentence has been served.
According to him, the second condition is related to the assessment of whether the convicted person has reformed. In this case, the court is not obliged to take into account the opinion of the prison administration or the position of the prosecutor's office.
In this particular case, the prosecutor's office and the prison administration stated that Nikolov has not yet reformed. Despite this, the Sofia City Court ruled for his conditional early release, and the prosecutor's office appealed the decision.
The sentence is not being reviewed
Attorney Menkov specified that the proceedings for conditional early release do not change the sentence and do not reexamine the facts of the case. The court assesses whether the evidence shows the correction of the prisoner.
Until the Sofia Court of Appeals has ruled, Kristian Nikolov will not be released. If the Court of Appeals confirms the ruling, it can be implemented according to the conditions set by the court.
Sources: novini.bg