Bulgaria: A Candidate for Mayor of Dupnitsa has been Detained by Police

The candidate for mayor of Dupnitsa, Metodi Zakharinov, has been detained, reports BTA. The information was confirmed by the spokesperson of the District Prosecutor's Office in Kyustendil, Mariyana Sirakova. A request to leave him in custody is pending in court.

With a decision dated October 11, the Central Election Commission authorized the District Prosecutor's Office - Kyustendil to detain Zakharinov, who is an independent candidate. The received request is on the occasion of information from the regional directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kyustendil that there is a signal from Greece in the Schengen information system about an international search warrant for Zakharinov.

Pursuant to Art. 160, para. 1 of the Election Code, registered candidates cannot be detained from registration until the election results are announced without the permission of the CEC.

A file was created regarding materials provided by the Directorate of "International Operational Cooperation" in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, containing information about a European Arrest Warrant, the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Sofia announced. The order was issued by the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Thessaloniki, Greece, and concerns Bulgarian citizen Metodi Zakharinov.

The 47-year-old man is wanted by the Greek authorities for serving a sentence in a case for possession and distribution of counterfeit euro banknotes. The decision of the five-member panel of the Appellate Court in Thessaloniki, by which Zakharinov was sentenced to 6 years of "imprisonment", entered into force in 2014, according to the prosecutor's office.

During an inspection, it was found that the wanted person is registered with the Municipal Election Commission - Dupnitsa, as a candidate for mayor of the Municipality of Dupnitsa in the upcoming local elections on October 29. According to the provision of Art. 160, paragraph 1 of the Election Code, the person enjoys immunity. This circumstance precludes proceedings under the Extradition Act and the European Arrest Warrant.

With the decision of the Central Election Commission dated 11.10.2023, Metodi Zakharinov was allowed to be detained. On the basis of the European arrest warrant and the decision of the CEC, by decree of the Kyustendil District Prosecutor's Office, the man was detained for a period of up to 72 hours.

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!