Bulgaria Court Issues 1st Guilty Verdict over Parliamentary Brawl

For the first time in Bulgaria's history a former Member of the Parliament has been convicted for insulting a colleague.

The information was reported by the press center of the Sofia District Court Thursday.

The unprecedented guilty verdict is for the former MP from the National Movement of Stability and Prosperity (NMSP) party, Olimpi Katev, who used rude qualifications in addressing the Member of the European Parliament from Bulgaria's far-right, nationalist “Ataka” party, Dimitar Stoyanov.

The Court does not cite the exact words, but in an interview Thursday the leader of “Ataka”, Volen Siderov, who is also Stoyanov step-father, says they included threats and foul language.

As response, Stoyanov filed a civil suit against Katev. A videotape of the Parliamentary session in question, produced by the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), presented as evidence, confirmed the accusations of insulting words and qualifications.

Katev appealed the verdict, but the appeal has been thrown out by the Court. In addition to the guilty verdict, he is sentenced to pay BGN 1 as compensation to Stoyanov and BGN 2 000 for the Court expenses.