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The Sofia District Court (SRC) did not accept the request of the District Prosecutor’s Office to take a restraint measure for one of the protesters arrested during the September 2 demonstration: Rosen Milenov.
Milenov has been charged pursuant to art. 325 of the Penal Code for vandalism, because during the protest he climbed on the roof of an official police car, from which he chanted through a megaphone “Resign, garbage!”, “Mutri, get out!”, “Once we have to enter by force and sweep them away! “The prosecution insisted that the man be given the most severe measure of preventive detention.
The court commented on the question whether these actions could be classified as vandalism within the meaning of art. 325, para. 2 of the Penal Code. In the case at hand, it is a permitted civil protest, which implies a slightly more radical form of expression and a way of exercising the right to express one’s opinion, believes the magistrate. The requirement is that these means and methods are not disproportionate to the purpose of the protest and the actions of the authorities, as well as that they do not endanger the health or life of others present.
According to the court, there is no argument to qualify the expressions as vandalism, along with the charge of the accused in the car, which was unprotected at the time in question. According to the magistrate, Milenov committed the actions described in his indictment.
However, the court found that there was no reasonable suspicion of a general crime in the case and left the accused without pre-trial detention.
The decision can be appealed.
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