The trial over the 2016 shooting at the "4you" restaurant in Sunny Beach opened today at the Burgas Regional Court. The first witness was Nesebar businessman Dimitar Zhelyazkov, but the hearing was halted at the request of the defence.
The defence asked for the testimony to be recorded on video. Zhelyazkov's questioning will resume once the court rules on the request.
Zhelyazkov's bodyguard, Aleksandar Aleksiev, was killed in the shooting, which took place in the summer of 2016.
Ten people are in the dock: Bozhidar Kuzmanov, Ivan Terziyski, Radoslav Dimitrov, Georgi Ivanchev, Todor Slavov, Dimitar Nikolov, Danail Petkov, Nikolay Ivanov, Marcho Markov and Silvi Nikolov. Prosecutors charge them with taking part in an organised crime group, murder, attempted murder, coercion and drug dealing.
Prosecutors say all of them belong to one of the two groups involved in the shooting.
The case has dragged on for years in different courts. It first opened in 2018 at the Specialised Criminal Court, which held quite a few hearings. After that court was closed, the case was moved to the Sofia City Court. There, a lay judge fell seriously ill and left the panel, so the trial had to start again from the beginning.