“The court acquitted me, we are filing a counter-case!”

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SMARTPHONE VERSION >>> “I did not buy votes for the local elections in 2019. I was framed then – I know by name who acted how, where and on whose order, where the one who carried out the order was reassigned and promoted, who were the operatives who did the whole thing job, who are the impersonators.”

This is what municipal councilor Yanko Yankov, whose resignation is being demanded by PPDB and “Vazrazhdane”, told the media in Stara Zagora today. Together with him was the chairman of the Municipal Council, Iveta Lazarova, with whom they live together and have a child.

I have them all listed, with all their actions and orders over the phone, and these are their confessions during the case itself. The accusation was that I tried to buy votes. To experience, not to buy. As I was allegedly offered 200 BGN for 50 votes. You can estimate how many leva per vote they fall on. So for 5 years I have been “hanging on the hook”. On March 15, the Supreme Court of Cassation issued a decision, according to which I was acquitted under Art. 146, paragraph 1, item 2.

On one of the two accusations against him, that he acted as an official, Yankov was acquitted by the Court of Appeal in Sofia. On the other charge – for “attempting to buy votes as a candidate for mayor in 2019.” – the court decision of March 15 is also acquittal. A few days later, on March 18, however, the reasons for the acquittal decision were released, which contradicted it in a certain part. In order to clear up the contradiction between the decision and the reasons, an interpretative decision of the Supreme Court has been requested, which is expected to be released on May 20.

The indictment in the second case under Art. 167, paragraph 1, paragraph paragraph 2, was based solely on the testimony from the inquiry of the only witness who himself said that he was “addicted to crystals” and who stated in court that he did not receive money from Yankov, as well as that there were neither his nor Yankov’s fingerprints on the money, but only the one who “finally led the order”, in Yankov’s words. The court accepted the testimony of the witness only from his interrogation, which took place at 1 o’clock in the morning, when he was dragged from his home and was in a heavily drugged state. The Court of Appeal convicted Yankov on this charge, but the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) subsequently overturned that conviction, upholding the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of Yankov as an official. “The verdict is in the decision, not in the reasons for it,” Yankov emphasized.

All these spits against us are absolutely untenable and only aim at political PR – Yankov also said. – I will not allow our name, our work over the years and our experience to be defamed. There’s no way that’s going to happen. Let no one think that I am kicking the ball to get one more salary as a municipal councillor. That’s not my goal. I’m waiting for the truth to come out. We were forced to give this press conference because there is tremendous pressure from both parties, colleagues are insulted why they support us, the mayor is being pressured to take some action, the chairman of the Municipal Election Commission is being pressured. We want the citizens of Stara Zagora to understand what is happening. After the interpretative decision comes out, if the court confirms that it meant to say that I was convicted, I would immediately resign without waiting for the OIC to meet and release me. But I will not give in to pressure for something that I am sure is not my fault. For me, for each of our group, the citizens of Stara Zagorje voted as if they were individuals. Regarding whether we bought votes – you can open the results of the sections in the “Lozenets” district and in the villages, and see if our group has any votes from there at all in 2019, and also in 2023 – recommended the municipal councilor .

I also don’t understand why the resignation of the chairman of the OBS Iveta Lazarova, of Krasimir Chervilov from our group is being demanded now. What do this mandate and the previous mandate have in common?! Yankov asked rhetorically. – What does it have to do with the fact that we now live together with Iveta Lazarova and have a 3-year-old child? In 2019, we were not together. She is a third-term municipal councilor, a lawyer, enrolled in the Bar Association. He has won hard cases, he has practice and experience. Who could become the chairman of the General Assembly outside GERB? We consulted with all the parties about the possible candidates, who should not be politicians, should be lawyers, since the regulations and rules are quite complicated – only Iveta Lazarova and Damyan Georgiev remained as meeting all the criteria, but he refused to be the chairman of the Municipal advice, because he has a business – Yankov added.

In her turn, Iveta Lazarova recalled that in the last three months, the Municipal Council, of which she is the chairman, held five meetings, the standing committees met 58 times, and the Chairman’s Council had four meetings. She rejected as untenable the accusations against her by the parties attacking her. “I want to ask if it is normal to hand out “sentences” by people who do not have this right, and right on the back of the chairman of the Municipal Council. And here is the place to ask – who in this case is ruining the prestige of this important institution?” – said Lazarova.

It is a complete lie that Lazarova perjured herself. Despite the claims, she has not even been investigated, let alone charged or sentenced – Yanko Yankov also said. He announced that several criminal cases of a private nature will be filed for the attacks against him and for damaging the prestige of the chairman of the Municipal Council, as well as a civil case worth BGN 50 thousand.

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