Yoan Matev, sentenced to six and a half years in prison for the murder of Georgi Ignatov in Borisova Gradina in the capital in 2015, was released from prison. This was confirmed to NOVA by the Ministry of Justice.
Matev received a sentence of 6 and a half years of "deprivation of liberty", since he was a minor at the time of the murder. After the time under house arrest, as well as the time behind bars, was deducted, he served just over 3 years of his sentence. In June of this year, he requested early parole, but the court denied him. After the sentence expired, Matev was released.
We recall that the arrest of Yoan Matev came after a Bulgarian National Radio security camera filmed his escape from the scene of the murder. At the time, he was a law student in Blagoevgrad, and his fellow students suspected him because of the sharp change in his appearance and his lateness to school on the day of the murder. However, the unraveling of the case occurred after his brother Marcel showed the investigators where Yoan Matev had thrown the knife with which he stabbed Georgi Ignatov.
At first instance, the juvenile perpetrator of the murder was acquitted on the grounds that there was no definitive evidence that it was he who inflicted the stab wounds. The Court of Appeals disagreed and gave him 6 and a half years of "imprisonment". Matev was a minor at the time of the murder and by law his sentence is reduced by one third of what is provided for in the law. After deducting the days under house arrest and the work behind bars, he was in prison for about 3 years. In June of this year, he requested early release, but the magistrates refused.
On October 25, 2022, the Court of Appeal in Sofia found Matev guilty and sentenced him to six years and six months in prison, as well as to pay 150 thousand leva each for non-pecuniary damages for the pain and suffering caused to both parents of the murdered boy.
According to the magistrates, Matev, who was a minor at the time of the crime, intentionally killed 15-year-old Georgi Ignatov with a knife. The court acquitted him on the charge of causing Ignatov's death in a particularly painful manner. Previously, the first instance – Sofia City Court fully acquitted Yoan Matev.
Later, by a decision of June 2023 of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Matev was finally sentenced to six years and six months, thus confirming the verdict of the lower court. From which the time spent in custody must be deducted.