Bulgaria: The National Investigation Service becomes an Independent Body in the Judiciary
The National Investigation Service will be removed from the prosecutor's office system and become an independent body within the judiciary
The Sofia City Court (SCC) revoked Thursday the two-year suspended sentence of notorious businessman and alleged court lobbyist Krasimir Georgiev, aka Krasio the Black, for perjury.
The name of Krasio the Black surfaced in the summer of 2009, when Ivan Kolev, member of the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), announced that "some guy called Krasio from Pleven" was "selling" senior posts in the judiciary for EUR 200 000.
Krasio was said to be able to "guarantee" the support of 8-13 members of a total of 27 members of the VSS.
A number of magistrates, including ones from supreme judicial bodies, were dismissed or resigned after the scandal broke out.
In end-February, the Sofia Regional Court declared Georgiev Georgiev guilty of perjury and gave him a two-year suspended sentence over testifying that he did not know any magistrates despite evidence to the contrary.
Thursday's ruling of the SCC, however, declares Georgiev not guilty and also points to a number of flaws in the investigation.
Georgiev received Thursday his second acquittal, after he was cleared of tax evasion the tune of around BGN 95 000 in the period 2006-2008.
The acquittal ruling was issued by the Sofia City Court in end-April.
Both acquittals are not final yet and can be appealed.
Georgiev was also investigated for trading in influence but the case did not reach court.
A 37-year-old man from Stara Zagora has been detained after physically assaulting his two daughters
In the ongoing trial at the Central Criminal Court in London, the prosecutor, Alison Morgan, emphasized that the Bulgarians accused of spying for Russia
A man was arrested after stabbing another driver following a traffic accident in Sofia
A Bulgarian man, 39-year-old Mariyan Grudev, has been sentenced to life in prison in England for rape and attempted rape
The Sofia City Court has ordered a 22-year-old woman, who stabbed three passers-by in the capital, to be placed in the psychiatric clinic at Lovech prison for a 30-day examination
Pre-trial proceedings have been launched for attempted murder following a knife attack in Sofia that left three men injured
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