Bulgaria Court Confirms Detention of 'Crocodiles' Gang Member

Crime | January 4, 2010, Monday // 15:04|  views

Slivnitsa Regional Court confirms its previous ruling to keep Evgeni Milev - aka Geyzo - in permanent police custody. Photo by BGNES

Sofia Regional Court has confirmed the continued detention of alleged Bulgarian "Crocodile" gang member, Evgeni Milev aka Geyzo.

Magistrates on the Slivnitsa court approved on Monday a previous ruling to keep Geyzo behind bars while investigations continue. This decision was final, and not open to appeal.

Milev had been arrested on December 19, accused of attempting to cross the border using faked documents. A member of the border police was also accused of assisting him.

Following the legal judgment, Stoiko Barborski, Milev’s legal defense attorney, stated that he had presented new evidence on Monday, but that this had been disallowed by the court.

The lawyer claimed on Monday that the latest decision had been pre-judged. He pointed out that the interrogation report of a third party, with whom Geyzo had crossed the border, had not been included in the case file, although the questioning had taken place on December 28.

Asked why the trial was classified on Monday, even though Slivnitsa Regional Court did not hold it behind closed doors, the lawyer said: "In order that the public does not find out what a farce the case would be".

Police had arrested Evgeni Milev as part of their efforts to track down members of a gang involved in highway robbery, following a shoot-out between the police and a gang on the Trakiya Highway the night of 13 December, when two men had shot at police officers after robbing a Turkish citizen.

Subsequently, Milev had claimed in an interview that he had not been at the scene of the shootout, sating that he was in Germany at the time. His attorney has supported this statement, adding that there was corroborative testimony from another witness.

The defense lawyer commented on the position of Geyzo's brother Emil Milev, also wanted by the police in connection with the Highway shootout. Given the latest court decision made about his brother's detention, Barboski thought it was unlikely that Emil would voluntarily give himself up to the police.

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Tags: Bulgaria, turkey, Slivnitsa, detention, Crocodiles, Trakia, Evgeni Milev, Emil Milev, Geyzo

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