Alleged 'Crocodile' Gangster: Bulgaria Is 'Terrible Circus'

Bulgarian Evgeni Milev, aka Geyzo, has appeared before the Slivnitsa District Court, where his bail application has been heard on Wednesday.

According to the indictment against him, he had crossed the Bulgarian border with forged passport stamps.

Geyzo explained before the court that there was no way he could have physically put a stamp in his passport. He pointed out that his passport was taken by officials at the border upon his entry back into Bulgaria. Then he was placed, according to him, "in a cage" so that he could not see what was happening to the passport.

He stated that he had been taken into custody in Elin Pelin, where, according to him, conditions were "more severe than those in Guantanamo prison."

He explained that he had returned to Bulgaria in a bus with 45 passengers, and that the passport stamp had been placed by the border control officers.

Geyzo complained to the court that the Bulgarian system had been harassing him for so many years, that he had decided to escape from Bulgaria by traveling to Germany.

He maintained that the accusation against him had been contrived, and that he was in Germany when he had discovered from friends that he was wanted by Bulgarian authorities.

Earlier, the prosecution had asked for Milev to be accorded permanent custody. According to the state indictment, he was accused of serious criminal intent, a charge that allows for up to 8 years’ imprisonment.

In pressing for his custody, prosecutors in the case had indicated that he had committed 16 other crimes, that he had a criminal record, and the possibility that he might go into hiding as well as carry out further crimes.

Milev’s defense lawyer asked for the most lenient bail measure to be ruled on by the court.

“How can he be accused that, in his absence, stamps are being placed in an operational area run by controlling personnel,” he asked.

Moreover, his lawyer, Stojko Barborski, defined as pure gossip reports that Geyzo had been the object of a nation-wide search. The defender pointed out that there was no such document in the case file.

The decision of the court is expected.

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