2024-09-16 12:58:20
The Commercial District Court changed the remand order of the former mayor of Omurtag Eshref Eshrefov, accused of participating in an organized criminal group, respecting the request of the defense and changing his previous “house arrest” to the lighter measure of “cash bail” in the amount of twenty thousand leva, the court announced today.
Eshrefov has been brought in as a defendant for the fact that since the beginning of 2019 he participated in an organized criminal group in the city of Omurtag and on the territory of the municipality with the aim of committing crimes in the country under Art. 282 /crimes on duty/ etc. of the NC, for which a penalty of “imprisonment” of more than three years is provided. The group was created with a profit motive and officials participate in it, the indictment claims.
The judicial panel considers that at the moment the presumption of complicity in the committed act has not been shaken or weakened. On the other hand, and after the new assessment of all the circumstances related to the amendment of the initial measure of remand “house arrest”, taken by the District Court of Targovishte in March of this year, the court has now accepted that the danger of the accused committing a crime / inasmuch as the danger of him absconding was never real, given his permanent residence and family ties)/ is no longer real, but only hypothetical. This also applies to the accused’s ability to influence the investigation, since the relevant witness statements have already been collected.
Taking into account the clean criminal record, the good characteristic data and family status of the accused, the court accepted that the continuation of the “house arrest” measure is not necessary at the moment, and ordered a “monetary guarantee” in the amount of BGN 20 thousand. The other possible maximum the court considered a light pretrial detention measure under the Criminal Code “signature” to be inappropriate in view of the severity of the charges.
The decision of the District Court – Targovishte is subject to appeal and protest within three days before the Court of Appeal – Varna.
Meanwhile, there will be new elections for mayor in Omurtag, as last year’s election of Eshref Eshrefov was canceled due to election violations.