Bulgarian Roma Clan Leader Tsar Kiro To Be Kept under Arrest

Crime | September 30, 2011, Friday // 13:25
Bulgaria: Bulgarian Roma Clan Leader Tsar Kiro To Be Kept under Arrest File photo

The Asenovgrad Regional Court has left Roma clan leader Kiril Rashkov, aka Tsar Kiro, under arrest, disregarding his pleas that he was "on the brink of survival".

He is said to be involved in the death of 19-year-old Angel Petrov, who got ran over by a mini-bus driven by an alleged associate of the Roma clan leader in the southern Bulgarian village of Katunitsa on September 23.

Rashkov has been charged with making two death threats to Veselin Hristov, maternal uncle of the murdered Angel Petrov, and to his girlfriend.

The threats, issued hours before Angel Petrov was killed, were confirmed by security camera footage and by witnesses' testimony.

Judge Maria Peycheva ruled that there was sufficient evidence justifying the imposition of the requested measure of restraint.

The Asenovgrad Regional Prosecutor's Office demanded earlier Friday that Rashkov be kept under arrest, stressing that he was likely to commit a new offense or go into hiding.

The prosecutor argued further that Rashkov was not popular as a person of integrity among the locals and had previously been convicted of hooliganism, for which he had been fined BGN 1000-3000, and had been subsequently rehabilitated.

Calling for a lesser measure of restraint, Rashkov's defender noted that his 69-year-old client was leading a sedentary life, had a 95% rate of disability, had survived multiple heart attacks and was suffering from diabetes.

The measure of restraint imposed can be appealed in three days' time before the Plovdiv District Court.

A crowd had gathered in front of the court in Asenovgrad, including Katunitsa residents, which booed Rashkov as he was leaving the building, calling him murderer and saying that he deserves to die.

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Tags: Tsar Kiro, Katunitsa, Angel Petrov, Plovdiv, Asenovgrad, Prosecutor's Office, hooliganism, ethnic tensions, Roma clan

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