Poacher mayor went into hiding because of the flu

The mayor of Sozopol, Panayot Reizi, has canceled all his meetings, citing the flu, reports the "Standard" newspaper. A sign on the mayor's office door says that until November 13, the mayor will not receive anyone due to illness. Reizi and his accomplices are now free.

On Sunday, Reizi and 4 other people were caught poaching near the village of Veselie, where they killed a pregnant doe. "We are waiting for the documents to come from the Primorsko Police Department to decide what charges will be brought," said Kalina Chapkanova, the prosecutor from Burgas. Reizi's lawyer, Bogdan Yordanov, claims that his client is innocent, as he was not hunting but looking for mushrooms, and the rifle found in the car was due to oversight.

Reizi himself told colleagues in the municipality that he believes someone is trying to make a PR move at his expense. However, the forestry guards who caught the poachers are adamant that they were the ones who killed the protected doe. The guards had information that Reizi and his company regularly poached in the "Ropotamo" reserve.

A week before being caught poaching in the "Ropotamo" reserve, the mayor of Sozopol, Panayot Reizi, shot a red deer in the same hunting ground. The hunt was legal, but Reizi should have taken the trophy and paid for it after an evaluation committee, as required by law. In "Ropotamo", they were waiting for him on Monday, but the night before, Reizi and 5 others were caught in the forest next to a killed doe.

Reizi is the chairman of the "Apolonia 2001" hunting and fishing association, which unites the clubs in Sozopol and Ravadnovo. It has around 150 members who hunt on a territory of about 3200 hectares. In the fall and winter, this is the most widespread hobby here, with dozens of locals - from influential businessmen to pensioners - grabbing their shotguns and roaming the forests. "Apolonia 2001" also develops active hunting tourism - it hosts groups of foreigners who come to shoot game.