The Burgas Appellate Court is reviewing the measure of restraint for 19-year-old Nikola Burgazliev, who ran over four people with an ATV in the Sunny Beach resort.
During the incident, a 35-year-old woman died, and her four-year-old child sustained serious injuries.
People gathered in front of the Courthouse, expressing their support for the victims and insisting that the court keep Burgazliev in custody.
The victims' lawyer – Georgi Radkov, stated that he expects the court to uphold the current measure of restraint. According to him, the accused's desire to continue his education cannot be an argument for release from custody, especially considering the severity of the crime committed.
Radkov emphasized that during the first consideration of the measure in Nessebar, the accused denied using narcotic substances, despite the subsequent data on the case. According to him, the current requests of the defense represent another attempt to achieve release, rather than an expression of remorse or taking responsibility for what happened.
BTA recalls that on February 9 of this year, the accused in the incident again requested to be released from custody in order to complete his secondary education. Before the district magistrates in Burgas, he stated that not a day goes by without him regretting what happened and asked to be released to take exams.
At the request of his defense, his class teacher was summoned as a witness, who pointed out that in custody he cannot take the necessary 19 exams, and then appear for the graduation exam in May. Then, the state prosecution stated that the appeal was unfounded and that the accused had been given the opportunity to contact teachers. The prosecution referred to the high public danger of the act and pointed out that the presence of narcotic substances was detected in the driver's blood.