site.btaGERB MPs to Move Legislation Scrapping Mandatory Sentence Cut for Underage Murderers, Rapists

January 20 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister and GERB
Party leader Boyko Borissov Monday ordered the GERB MPs to draft
 urgently legislative amendments abolishing the mandatory
reduction of the sentences that underage offenders get for
serious offences against the person, GERB MP Emanuil Manev told
journalists.

On Monday, Borissov and Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev met at
the Council of Ministers with Asen Roumenov, whose 18-year-old
daughter Andrea was brutally raped and murdered in the Galiche
Village near Vratsa (Northwestern Bulgaria) on January 11.
Prosecutors say the suspected perpetrator Aksel Olekov, 17, who
is in custody, has confessed to the crime. Last week residents
of Galiche and neighbouring villages staged a protest because,
on conviction, the suspect can be imprisoned for a maximum of 12
 years despite having a criminal record because he is underage.

The Prosecutor General's Spokesperson Siika Mileva said that
Geshev had ordered a check of all persons under two or three
pending proceedings and if they are found  to violate the
precautionary measures imposed on them to secure their
appearance, supervising prosecutors will seek more stringent
measures. The idea is to contain conventional crime and prevent
a repeat of the Galiche tragedy. RY/LG

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