Judge: We Should Have Confirmed Staviiski's Suspended Sentence

Crime | January 5, 2009, Monday // 00:00
Bulgaria Judge: We Should Have Confirmed Staviiski's Suspended Sentence: Judge: We Should Have Confirmed Staviiski's Suspended Sentence Bulgaria's figure skating champion Maxim Staviiski (back) should have gotten a suspended sentence, according to one of the Appellate Court judges. Staviiski's skaing partner Albena Denkova is at the front. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

The Chair of the three-member panel of the Burgas Appellate Court Georgi Koshnicharov declared Monday afternoon the court should have confirmed figure skating champion Maxim Staviiski's suspended sentence.

Earlier on Monday, the Burgas Appellate Court changed the 2,5-year suspended sentence of Bulgaria's figure skating champion Staviiski into an effective one.

In January 2008, Staviiski received a suspended sentence of 2,5 years for driving drunk and causing a car crash on August 5, 2007, which left the 24-year-old Petar Petrov dead, and the 18-year-old Manuela Gorsova comatose. Staviiski's blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was 1.24. In December, the case against Staviiski was referred to the Burgas Appellate Court by the parents of the car crash victims.

The Burgas Appellate Court also changed the amount of the original sums that Staviiski had to pay to the crash victims' parents - BGN 120 000 to Petar's parents (up from BGN 90,000), and BGN 150 000 Manuela's family (up from BGN 80 000).

Judge Koshnicharov signed the sentence with reservations. He commented later he did not agree with the motives of his two colleagues on the panel, the judges Svetla Tsolova, and Dimitar Dimitrov, to change Staviiski's sentence from suspended to effective.

"Staviiski's isolation from society for a longer period of time will not lead to the achievement of the aims of general prevention", Judge Koshnicharov declared adding that he also did not believe the new larger compensations imposed by the three-member panel chaired by him were justified.

In his words, the original sentence from January 2008 would have served better the aims of general and personal prevention in Staviiski's case.

Staviiski's lawyers have vowed to appeal Monday's ruling of the Burgas Appellate Court.

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