The Burgas Court of Appeal confirmed a decision to allow the execution of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and the handover of the Bulgarian citizen E. A. to the judicial authorities of the Republic of Greece for the purpose of prosecution on charges of migrant trafficking.
Against E. A. there was an EZA issued by the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office of Thessaloniki, Republic of Greece. With it, the handover of the Bulgarian citizen to the Greek judicial authorities is requested for the conduct of criminal proceedings against her on charges of assistance in committed on 17.06.2020. transfer of citizens from third countries who do not have the right of residence on Greek territory.
The order states that, with the intention of helping her accomplices, she provided a “BMW” car to transport no less than 9 foreign citizens to the interior of the country in exchange for 1,500 euros.
The act was carried out in a way that could have created a danger to human life, since three of the passengers were loaded in the trunk and the car did not stop at the sound and light signals of the police authorities, but in order to avoid a police check, developed speed, in as a result of which he left the road and hit an embankment on the side of the road.
The crime is classified as “assistance in illegal entry and stay in the country”, and the most severe punishment provided for it is imprisonment for a period of eight years according to the Criminal Code of the requesting country. The same act constitutes a crime under Art. 281 para. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria – illegal assistance to foreign persons to reside or cross the country in violation of the law, by providing and using motor vehicles, in a manner dangerous to the lives of the persons and relation of more than one person.
The appellate authority considers that all the requirements of ZEEZA (Extradition Law and European Arrest Warrant) have been met for allowing the execution of the European Arrest Warrant and there are no grounds for refusal.
The Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in the city of Thessaloniki has provided a written guarantee that the requested person, after being heard in Greece, will be returned to Bulgaria to serve a prison sentence or a measure requiring detention, possibly imposed on him by the Greek judicial authorities, as provided for in the Framework Decision of the Council on Justice and Home Affairs of the EU Member States of 13 June 2002.
The decision of the Court of Appeal – Burgas is final.
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