High-profile 'Belneyski' Murder Trial Launched in Bulgaria

Lazar Kolev, 30, is the only defendant in the brutal murder case of two teenage sisters five years ago. Photo by BNGES

The Pazardzhik Regional Court launched Monday, following a 5-year probe, the trial in the high-profile sisters Belneyski murder case.

Sisters Rositsa (18) and Kristina (15) Belneyski 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.

Lazar Kolev, 30, is the only defendant in the case.

The magistrates' team includes two judges and five jurors. Thirty individuals and experts are to take the witness stand by February 15. The Prosecutor in the case is the Regional Prosecutor of Pazardzhik, Dimitriya Gancheva; the defense council is represented by prominent Bulgarian attorneys – father and son, Marin and Dimitar Markovski.

The trial is open for the public.

Kolev is charged with sodomy, rape and brutal murder. The defense team insists the charges are groundless.

The main evidence presented by the prosecution is DNA material from Rositsa's nails, allegedly, a full match with Kolev's DNA.

If proven guilty, Kolev faces no less than 15 years behind bars.

On Monday, the Court accepted the civil claim of the sisters' parents for damages in the amount of BGN 400 000, but rejected the defense request to dismiss the Prosecutor over her preconception the defendant is guilty.

The magistrates further rejected the defense request for a speedy trial.

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