The Sofia Appellate Court released on bail Tuesday one more member of the notorious kidnap gang, codenamed “The Impudent.”

Tsvetozar Slavchev aka Tsuro was let go after it became clear during the court session that in six months the prosecutor failed to find any additional evidence to link him to the high-profile abductions in Bulgaria in the last few years.

The only witness against Tsuro was another alleged criminal – Lyubomir Dimitrov aka Grebetsa (The Rower), who testified Slavchev had participated in one of these kidnappings. Grebetsa was also arrested during “The Impudent” special police operation in December 2009.

Tsuro is the second alleged gang member to walk out on bail. At the end of January, Anton Petrov aka Hamstera (The Hamster), said to be the ringleader, was also released from jail on a BGN 20 000 bail.

25 people were detained by the police on December 18, 2009, as result of a special operation codenamed "The Impudent," cracking down on the gang which has terrorized Bulgaria by kidnapping important businessmen and/or their relatives. The operation was carried out in Sofia and in the northern cities of Veliko Tarnovo and Montana.

The special operation was conducted jointly by the Interior Ministry, the State National Security Agency DANS and the Prosecutor’s Office.

The latest high-profile abduction in Bulgaria was the kidnapping of 22-year-old student Rumen Guninski Jr, son of businessman Rumen Guninski Sr, who spent 40 days in captivity. Various reports put the ransom paid for his release in November at EUR 300 000 to EUR 1 M.

Businessman Kiro Kirov was kidnapped in the spring of 2009 and released for a ransom of EUR 620 000. The highest-profile abduction in 2008 was the one of Angel Bonchev, former President of the Litex Football Club, and then of his wife Aneliya. Businessman Vene Sotirov was abducted in the spring of 2009 and is still missing.

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