site.btaUPDATED Sofia City Court Adjourns 2022 Ring Road Crash Case

The Sofia City Court is reopening Thursday the case against the two policemen who escorted Dimitar Lyubenov on the ring road of Sofia, and witnesses are to be questioned. In July of 2023, the court returned the case to the prosecutor's office on the grounds that there had been a substantial violation, leading to a restriction of the rights of the accused.

In May 2023, the prosecution service brought to court the two policemen who became notorious after a serious crash on the ring road in September a year earlier. In the accident, Lyubenov was driving at high speed and after using prohibited substances. His car hit another vehicle, and a French citizen died in the collision.

Lyubenov was arrested, and later it transpired that he had an escort of policemen, to whom, according to him, he paid BGN 200. The uniformed officers in question were Lyubka Gecheva and Georgi Malinski.

Malinski was then accused of taking BGN 200 to let Lyubenov drive, and of not reporting the case. He will also be held responsible for not reporting the crash after seeing it and not rendering assistance.

Gecheva was put on trial for official misconduct in failing to render first aid at the accident on the ring road. She has not been charged with bribery.

Later, the judge reported that five minutes before the start of the trial, one of the jurors called to say that he would not be appearing without giving a clear reason. The case was adjourned.