Alleged Killer of Bulgaria's Belneyski Sisters to Remain in Jail

The Plovdiv Court of Appeals has confirmed the ruling of the Pazardzhik District Court to leave in custody the only suspect of the murder of Belneyski sisters, Lazar Kolev. Photo by BGNES

The Court of Appeals in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv has decided to leave in jail Lazar Kolev, who is the only suspect of the case for the brutal murder of the Belneyski sisters, aged 15 and 18.

Kolev was accused of murdering sisters Rositsa (18) and Kristina (15), who went missing in January 2006 after leaving a disco bar in the southern Bulgarian town of Pazardzhik. The sisters were found dead at the beginning of February near the town of Peshtera.

Last week, the District Court in Pazardzhik left Kolev in custody on the grounds that he could abscond or commit another crime. The magistrates also decided there was enough evidence proving his guilt.

After the trial, Kolev's lawyers, Marin and Dimitar Markovski, stated that they would appeal the court's ruling, noting that the main flaw of the Prosecutor's Office was 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.

The 30-year-old Kolev announced he was going on hunger strike in protest against what he called “a judicial farce”.

The charges against him are based on an expertise, which proves that his DNA material matched completely the DNA found on the bodies of Rositsa and Hristina Belneyski.

The court's decision cannot be appealed.

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