Bulgarian Court Leaves in Jail Only Suspect of Belneyski Sisters Murder

The 30-years-old Lazar Kolev, who is the only suspect in the case of the murder of Belneyski Sisters, claimed that the court's decision to leave him behind bars is a judicial farce. Photo by BGNES

The District Court in the southern Bulgarian city of Pazardzhik has decided to leave in jail the only suspect of the case for the brutal murder of the Belneyski sisters, aged 15 and 18.

Sisters Rositsa (18) and Kristina (15) Belneyska went missing in January 2006, after leaving a disco bar in the town of Pazardzhik. The sisters were found dead at the beginning of February near the town of Peshtera.

The magistrates decided Friday that there were enough evidence that the 30-year-old Lazar Kolev has killed the sisters.

“For me, this is a judicial farce. I announce a hunger strike,” Kolev said after the court's ruling, claiming that he was a scapegoat and that he did not know the two sisters.

If the decision is appealed in a three-day period in the Plovdiv Appellate Court, the case would be scheduled for August 26.

Dimitria Gancheva from the Prosecutor's Office in Pazardzhik has announced that for the moment Kolev was the only suspect.

“Only he could put some light on the motive for committing the crime,” she said and added that the Prosecutor's Office is planning to gather more evidence.

At today's sitting, it was established that the charges against Kolev were based on an expertise, which proves that his DNA material matched completely the DNA found on the bodies of Rosica and Hristina Belneyski.

However, Kolev's lawyers, Marin and Dimitar Markovski, have pointed out that the main flaw of the Prosecutor's Office is the lack of clarity for the mechanism of the murder.

“The prosecutors do not explain how it has happened. They cannot explain the simple fact how Lazar Kolev killed the two girls. Apparently, the one was standing and waiting for her turn,” Marin Markovski said.

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