Sliven is not at the end of the world, but it is far enough from the current agenda and the cameras of the big televisions that things happen there in silence. And they happen. A great example is a court case for a crime that, if it had been committed in Sofia, would probably be in every morning block. But the victims have the bad luck of living in the Roma neighborhood of Sliven.
It is about 14 children who suffered from pedophilic acts. The case against the accused is almost nowhere. And this time, the usual suspects for unfinished business – the prosecutor’s office and the police – are on the side of the good guys. Their work, where qualitatively, where not so much, is finished. The case has been sent to court. And here the problems begin.
More than a year has passed since the materials were distributed to a judge. To date, however, the case has not started. The reason is that almost all magistrates from the district court in Sliven have recused themselves from it. The materials have already passed through all judges from the criminal division, now it is the turn of those from the civil division. Leads are likely to continue. In such cases, there is only one decision – the case is sent to Sofia, where the Supreme Court of Cassation decides to send it to another region of the country, so that there will still be a trial.
How did it get here?
The accused in the case is the British Daniel Hull. He has lived for years in the Sliven Roma neighborhood and presents himself as a pastor. This is not the first time his name has been in the news. Already in 2019, the BBC devoted several materials to his story. At that time, Hull was already convicted of pedophilia in his homeland, but he fled and settled in Bulgaria. After the BBC reports, Hull was arrested in our country and on trial for the same crimes. It was brought to court, but was terminated due to violations and returned to the prosecutor’s office. It was never resubmitted.
Hull is now facing a new trial. According to it, the prosecutor’s office claims that 14 boys from the Roma neighborhood were injured, some of them minors, others minors. Hull is currently in custody in Burgas. And relatives of the victims and their lawyers are trying to start the case, but they still fail.
Lead after lead
The beginning of the series of appeals was last spring. In April, the case was assigned to judge Tsanka Nedelcheva. She refuses to watch it because she was already a reporter in the previous proceedings against Hull in 2020. Even then, both he and his lawyer wanted her withdrawn because they doubted that she was not impartial. Judge Nedelcheva claims that she is not interested in the outcome of the case, but still recuses herself – so that there are no doubts.
Then the materials go to judge Svetlana Dimova. The exact same scenario is playing out here. And that judge was the rapporteur in the previous case against Hull. And the British doubted her impartiality. He again seeks recusal and she withdraws from the case.
It’s Judge Anna Dimitrova’s turn. She recuses herself following a request from Hull’s lawyer. He emphasizes that the judge has already considered a remand against the Briton, is familiar with most of the evidence and, moreover, has left him in custody, i.e. it can be assumed that she finds him guilty. Judge Dimitrova recused herself.
The materials go to judge Ivan Dimitrov. He first dismissed the case because he found violations of Hull’s rights. The prosecutor’s office appealed to the district court, which overturned Dimitrov’s decision and returned the materials to him. Then he retracts.
The next judge is Nikola Marinov. He scheduled a hearing on the case. A month later, however, he also withdraws. The arguments are not biased, but to leave no doubt.
This is how we get to judge number 6 in this story – Svetozar Svetiev. He accepts the case and also schedules a hearing. However, the magistrate then decided to recuse himself because Hull had called him a “murderer” for not releasing him from custody. The judge walks away, explaining that he will most likely sue the Brit himself for the insults.
And now where?
According to information from Mediapool, the materials were distributed to the wife of judge Svetiev, who works in the same court, who also withdrew. A new distribution followed and another magistrate was elected, whether he will also resign is not clear. Against the background of events so far, this will not be a surprise at all.
Denial of justice
This story is a classic denial of justice. It is true that each magistrate can find a reason (justified or not) to withdraw from a certain case, but in this case we are talking about a clearly expressed tendency. Why is another matter.
This case is serious both because of the subject it concerns and because of the way of proving the crime. Wherever it is viewed, it will most likely be behind closed doors because of the intimate details that would otherwise be revealed.
However, there is another problem. During the trial, whenever it begins, the injured boys will have to be questioned. So far, they have not given evidence in front of a judge, which means they will have to tell everything again, years after the events.
“It is a fact that juveniles are questioned before a judge during pre-trial proceedings. I am puzzled as to why this has not been done“, lawyer Stoyko Slavov, who is the defender of some of the victims, commented to Mediapool.
He added that it is better for all judges from Sliven to recuse themselves from the case without scheduling hearings and wasting more time so that it can be assigned to another judicial district.
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