Bulgaria: Court of Appeal to Rule on Pre-trial Restrictions for Five Defendants in Espionage Affair

Today, the prosecutor's office submitted new evidence on the spy affair shortly before the court hearings, which will decide whether some of the defendants for espionage in favor of Russia will remain in custody. The first meeting started before 10:00 a.m.

Shortly before 12 p.m., the panel withdrew to think about the judicial definition in more detail because of the new body of evidence, which represent two volumes of clear evidence and two volumes of confidential. This necessitated the delay in hearings, as defense lawyers had to review the materials.

According to unofficial information, some of the evidence is related to recordings that show how defendants negotiate what to say in court, while other is related to classified documents that are part of the espionage affair under investigation.

About 12.30 judgment is expected of the Sofia Military Court of Appeal on whether the deputy head of the Directorate for Budget and Expenditure of the Defense Ministry Colonel Petar Petrov will remain in custody.

The pre-trial restrictions for the remaining detainees will then be considered ndividually.

The request for a more lenient pre-trial restriction for Ilia Iliev, the so-called "Resident" has come later than others. Iliev is a former head of military intelligence, so it is not yet clear whether his particular interim measures will be considered today.

Prosecutors from both the Military District Prosecutor's Office and the Military Appellate Prosecutor's Office were in the courtroom. The court rule is expected later.

Five of the six accused of spying for Russia are appealing their detention in custody, which the military district court of first instance imposed on them after a 23-hour judicial marathon that ended in the...