The trial of Miroslav Belyashki, former head of Plovdiv customs, failed to start for a second time today after he asked for the prosecutor to be removed from the case. The next hearing is set for 18 December.
Belyashki himself made the request. Prosecutor Nikolay Gugushev accepted it and stepped down.
Belyashki faces charges of abuse of office and exceeding his powers at the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing. Prosecutors say he asked for a lorry carrying 1,400 master boxes of cigarettes to be let through without a customs check.
The former customs chief was detained in April last year in a special operation by the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office. He was charged after his arrest.