Burgas Appeals Court will hear a request from the defence lawyers for the mayors of Belitsa and Sungurlare tomorrow. They want the court to replace pre-trial detention with a milder measure. The ruling of this second-instance court is final.
Radoslav Revanski of Belitsa and the mayor of Sungurlare were detained late last week, and the first-instance court kept them in custody. The case has led to a new clash between prime minister Rumen Radev and the DPS party. It is not the first time the two sides have fallen out.
See also: Radev after arrests of Sungurlare and Belitsa mayors: more people should speak out
Speaking from the parliament rostrum, Kalin Stoyanov of the DPS showed letters between the head of Burgas prison and the two municipalities. He said the prison head told Belitsa municipality that Revanski would vote in Burgas prison. The letter was sent an hour before the hearing, before the court ruled. Stoyanov said the case of the Sungurlare mayor was the same.
Hamid Hamid of the DPS called the arrests a political show. He said they were ordered by a man he called "our gallant dictator".
Burgas prison chief Nikolay Stoyanov replied that the Central Election Commission (CIK) requires him to tell municipalities about people in custody by 5pm on 22 October. The hearing on the custody measures began at 5.30pm, so he could not know in advance what the court would decide. Stoyanov said that if the mayors had been freed, they would have signed a declaration and voted at their permanent address. He said the letters do not show that anyone knew the court's decision.
Radev made a statement at the Council of Ministers ahead of the second round of the presidential runoff. He did not respond to the DPS claims about the letters. The prime minister said the arrests have nothing to do with ethnic, political or election issues.
"There is simply no political umbrella over the police any more, or over the services," Radev said. He said the exposure of misuse of public money goes on wherever prosecutors are working, and that the state is taking back control.
The prime minister said he was pleased that the murders of businessmen Slavi Binev and Iliyan Filipov, and the arson attack on satellite dishes near Sofia, were solved quickly.
He also had a message for people who buy votes. "I want to warn everyone who has already set the machine in motion and who will buy votes: don't do it," Radev said. He added that the interior ministry will act without compromise, but strictly within the law.
Radev called on people to vote in the second round without fear, not to give in to pressure, and to choose by conscience and conviction.