GERB leader Boyko Borisov and former PM was sentenced to pay BGN 10,000 to Maya Manolova former candidate for mayor of Sofia in a defamation case, by ruling of Sofia District Court.

The decision, which is subject to appeal, came after Manolova filed a claim with the court after interview with Borisov before BTV on November 1, 2019, two days before the run-off in the mayoral elections in Sofia in which she was running against GERB candidate Fandakova.

  "One indignant person who is with them and listens to them told me that you can ask (them) last night at 7.30 pm - 7.40 pm in Voluyak if Ms. Manolova had a meeting with the Roma there to make such jokes ... around 19:30 - 19:40, secretly, they were waiting for her at the village of Voluyak and she went to bargain with which Roma to go out and say: "GERB paid me, Fandakova paid me to vote for her," said the then Prime Minister Borissov.

  "There, the Galevi brothers helped her a lot through the Roma leaders ... We made sure to look for them with a red ballot. But this does not mean that they have no influence on Roma leaders from the outside. And I wouldn't be surprised if they made similar donkeys in the first round as well, " he added.

 Manolova's defense declared that these statements of the defendant Borisov were untrue and defamatory, that they were perceived by her personally as offensive and as affecting her honor, reputation, self-esteem as a person, politician and public figure.

This resulted in non-pecuniary damage - pain and suffering, expressing anxiety, nervous tension and stress, insomnia, irritability, humiliation and the need to answer many questions from relatives, friends and family.

 Judge Maria Dimitrova's ruled that no evidence has been presented in the case as to the verify  Borissov's allegations.

 "The public dissemination of such a defamatory statement attributing to someone a crime which he has not committed always goes beyond the exercise of the right and freedom of expression" the judge explained.

 At the beginning of the court case, Maya Manolova announced that if she won it, she would donate the compensation to a kindergarten in Voluyak.

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