Defendant in Deadly Train Blaze Trail Begs to Remain at Large

Rescue workers carry a charred body, one of the nine victims of the fire in the train traveling from the capital city of Sofia to the northern town of Kardam. Photo by BGNES

Georgi Georgiev, one of the defendants in the deadly February 2008 train fire has submitted a claim with the District Court in Pleven over his permanent detention.

Georgiev was the the ticket collector of the ill-fated sleeping car in which nine people died while traveling from the capital city of Sofia to the northern town of Kardam. He is charged with recklessness causing the dead of two passengers. He failed to show up in court Monday.

Georgiev's absence caused the trial to be postponed and the magistrates ruled he must be arrested and kept permanently behind bars.

In his claim the ticket collector asked the Court to overturn the permanent detention measure and presented medical documentation, dated July 13, certifying he had a suffered a high blood pressure crisis stopping him from appearing before the magistrates.

The Pleven Regional Court informs that the change of the measure is within the authority of the Appellate Court in Veliko Tarnovo and all documentation was shipped there.

On Monday, Georgiev failed to answer his cell phone and to send a defense lawyer to the trial, which became the cause for its postponement and the dismissal of over 50 witnesses and relatives of the victims.

The Prosecutor, Valeri Mirchev, said Monday that Georgiev's absence and the lack of any information regarding his whereabouts has been a mockery of the Court.

 

 

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