Send to Kindle
Weightlifting champion Galabin Boevski, who was jailed in Brazil on cocaine trafficking charges, and was to spent over 9 years in jail, surprisingly returned to Bulgaria Wednesday. Photo BGNES
The decision to release Bulgarian weightlifting champion Galabin Boevski was taken by Brazil, which is not required to notify Bulgaria.
The statement was made by Ivaylo Kashkanov, spokesman for the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, who spoke on the phone for bTV Thursday morning. This was his reply to a reporter's question whether Bulgaria knew about the surprising return.
In its evening broadcast, the public television, the Bulgarian National Television, BNT, aired footage, showing Boevski at the Sofia international airport, arriving on a flight from Paris and greeted by his family.
Only BNT reporter, Yordan Dimitrov, has been at the airport to film the arrival and try to get some details.
When approached by Dimitrov, the athlete refused any comment as did the Bulgarian embassy in Brazil, and his Bulgarian lawyer.
Kashkanov explained that Boevski has received a temporary passport to return to Bulgaria and that the Ministry expected a report from the Bulgarian embassy in Brazil, which is to shed light on what has happened and particularly, if Boevski was exonerated."
"This is a decision of the Brazilian government and they are obliged to notify the embassy in advance. Once they made the decision to release him they acted autonomously," he added.
According to him, diplomats have not been involved in negotiating the release of the Bulgarian athlete, as this was a purely judicial matter.
"We followed closely the events there, but after the sentence entered into force, the Bulgarian embassy could not interfere," the spokesman concluded.
Meanwhile, journalists, who have been camping on the street, where Boevski's apartment in Sofia is located, report they hear noise inside the home, but no one has been seen coming in and out.
Bulgaria’s retailers are increasingly facing an unusual but growing challenge – customers arriving with jars full of small coins to pay their expenses
As the clock strikes midnight and Bulgaria welcomes 2026, the country will also enter a historic financial shift - the beginning of its transition to the euro
Small and medium-sized enterprises in Bulgaria are expected to face the greatest difficulties once the euro becomes the country’s official currency in 202
New research shows that the cost of ski holidays across Europe has climbed by almost 35% above the inflation rate since 2015
Bulgaria’s transition to the euro is approaching, and from January 1, 2026, the European currency will officially replace the lev
Bulgaria could face uncertainty in fuel supplies in the coming months, warned Radoslav Ribarski
Dutch authorities have seized more than 3.3 tons of cocaine during a major police operation in the town of Standaardbuiten, North Brabant
A man armed with a knife caused panic in a restaurant in Sofia’s Sveta Troitsa neighborhood after attacking and threatening customers on Monday
Since the start of the week, Sofia police have carried out a large-scale operation targeting drug production, storage, and distribution, resulting in the detention of 64 people
Bulgarian customs officers have intercepted a substantial quantity of illegal sexual stimulants and anabolic steroids in two separate courier shipments
Bulgarian and French law enforcement authorities have jointly dismantled an organized criminal group involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking across Europe
A British judge has raised concerns about a growing trend of young Bulgarians being drawn into drug dealing in Cornwall
Bulgaria's Strategic Role in the EU's Drone Wall Defense Initiative
When Politics Means Violence
