Bulgarian Double Murderer Releases 2nd 'Innocent' Message

Iliyan Todorov, the vanished convicted perpetrator of a double murder at the disco club "Solo" in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, has resumed his "dialogue" with the public.

Last month, Todorov published a video on Youtube in which he claimed that he was innocent and the actual murderer was walking free. On December 10, he turned to Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov with the video message in which the convict called what happened to him "injustice and the result of political order."

Todorov's latest address is directed to Justice Minister Zinaida Zlatanova and includes comments related to footage of security cameras of the main Courthouse in Sofia on the night of the murders, which were brought as evidence in the case.

According to the young man, the recordings show how he left in a taxi cab, while the fight continued. He adds that on the tape one of the main witnesses, who, during the trial, said she saw a flash of a knife's blade, was standing with her back turned to the crime scene.

"I am taking the liberty to upload online the full recording of the cameras that filmed the murder before disco club "Solo" with the hope that some magistrate with professional integrity, honor and dignity will be able to explain to society the reason for the sentencing of an innocent person and clarify the grounds for the verdict and at what time these recordings make it clear who is the physical perpetrator of the offense? Where is the strong evidence or in Bulgaria we judge based on hypotheses? In conclusion, I would like to share with you my deep feeling that it is not important whether this or another similar event will enter as negative the European Commission's monitoring reports; what is important is the disgrace in Bulgarian justice," the message says.

In mid-December, after Todorov published the video on Youtube, the District Prosecutor's Office in Plovdiv issued a European Arrest Warrant against him as it turned out that two years ago he had registered at a Plovdiv-based address.

Following an acquittal by the Sofia City Court at the end of 2011, the Sofia Appellate Court sentenced Iliyan Todorov to life imprisonment in a double murder case in April, 2013. The young man was found guilty of the murder of 21-year-old Kiril Vazharov and 24-year-old Vasil Alexandrov in front of the Solo club in downtown Sofia on April 18, 2009.

The fatal stabbing came after the boys allegedly got involved in a fight between two groups of drunken young people in front of the club and were stabbed in the back while trying to get away from the fight.

A third man, Kiril Dimitrov, got seriously injured.

On December 4, Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS) upheld the life sentence but it turned out that the authorities could not find Todorov.

On December 11, Iliyan Angelov, Bulgaria's Deputy Justice Minister, assured that the authorities involved in the search and the enforcement of the life sentence were doing everything possible to find him and make sure he served his sentence.

Justice Minister Zinaida Zlatanova said the Chief Directorate "Security"of the Justice Ministry had taken all possible steps to track him down and that the authorities were also looking for him abroad.

She said that she would not be surprised if the European Commission included Todorov's case in its January report on Bulgaria under the cooperation and verification mechanism.

Zlatanova pointed out that the delay of the judicial reform was worrying against a backdrop of a 7-year-long monitoring mechanism by the EC.

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