Bulgaria's Military Court of Appeal abolished Wednesday the jail sentences of five police officers convicted of beating to death a 38-year-old man.

Authorities said the case would now go back to the Sofia Military Court, as the charges on attempted murder have been replaced by charges on involuntary manslaughter caused by aggravated bodily harm, which led to abolition of the previous sentences.

In November, the court sentenced former police head in the town of Blagoevgrad Miroslav Pissov to 19 years behind bars. Other four law enforcement officials, Ivo Ivanov, Boris Mehandzhijski, Georgi Kalinkov and Yanko Grahovski, were jailed for 18 years each.

The victim, Anguel Dimitrov dubbed Chorata, was killed in 2005 by the law enforcers, conducting an operation entitled "Respect."

Dimitrov's death was first pegged as a heart attack but expertise showed that he had passed away due to blows to the head.

Chorata was a close ally of the alleged mobster Vassil Gorchev, who was publicly shot dead in January 2005.

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