Ex Bulgarian PM Denies Involvement in Boevski's Release

Former Bulgarian Prime Minister and leader of the opposition GERB party, Boyko Borisov, photo BGNES

Former Bulgarian Prime Minister and leader of the opposition GERB party, Boyko Borisov, says reports that he was involved in the notorious Boevski case were lies and slander.

The said reports spread one day ago, with claims former Bulgarian Olympic weightlifting champion Galabin Boevski,was released from jail in Brazil because Borisov has exerted persistent pressure on Brazilian authorities.

The former PM and leader of the center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, wrote on Facebook that he was consulting with his lawyers to take further action.

Boevski, who was serving a nine-year prison sentence in Brazil for international drug trafficking surprisingly arrived home in Bulgaria on the evening of October 23 after being granted an early release.

Bulgarian officials, including the justice minister and chief prosecutor, said that they were caught by surprise by Boevski's release.

Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ivaylo Kashkanov noted the decision to release Boevski was made by Brazil, which is not obligated to notify Bulgaria.

An investigation is underway of the circumstances that left Bulgarian institutions unaware of the return of a weightlifting athlete,"stressed Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin.

Vigenin revealed that Bulgarian ambassador to Brazil Chavdar Nikolov has been called back to Bulgaria to give an explanation regarding the case.

"I don't know why the Bulgarian authorities were unaware of plans to release Galabin Bovski from jail. This is a high-profile case. The trial against him in Brazil continues," Brazil's Ambassador to Bulgaria Manuel du Nascimento commented last Friday.

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