- He was “chosen”, his lawyers argued before the Plovdiv court, which left him in custody
- Austria wants us to hand him over to her for money laundering
It is very late, since we have been waiting for you.
This is what the police said when they arrested Ivan Dimov, the former head of the court in Sliven and ex-SDS deputy in the 1990s, on the Trakia highway near Plovdiv, his lawyers said.
As “24 Chasa” reported, a European Arrest Warrant has been issued against him from Austria. He was accused of laundering 170,000 euros and his remand was examined in the Plovdiv court.
However, according to his defense, Dimov was “chosen” because of our acceptance into Schengen. “At the end of January, there was a delegation from Austria in Bulgaria. A court case can be a bet. We want to enter Schengen,” pleads lawyer Krasimir Elderov. Together with the former interior minister from Ivan Kostov’s cabinet, Emanuil Yordanov, the two tried to get the 61-year-old Dimov out of custody, but the court left him behind bars.
“The law enforcement officers were watching me, and for this purpose the Plovdiv region was chosen, where to detain me,” said the ex-magistrate himself in the hall.
According to his lawyers, their client was not searched either at his home or at his office. “He has a permanent address, which is near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where the warrant should be obtained. It was issued on January 31, and the arrest was on February 3. Someone was inactive for several days, and Dimov was detained on the highway as a homeless car junkie ”, said lawyer Yordanov.
Regarding the accusation of laundering 170,000 euros, Dimov claims that he received all the funds completely legally. They were sent to him by a customer in a special account and with instructions on how to use them.
“I helped him to open a Bulgarian account, as well as to open a company in our country. He asked me to keep the funds in my lawyer’s account until that happens,” Dimov explained to the District Court. According to him, it is possible that in Austria they do not know what his relationship is with the person who sent him the money. “It doesn’t say anywhere here that I’m his lawyer. Maybe they didn’t check,” he said. And he added that his only contact with the Austrian banking system was withdrawing from an ATM and exchanging currency at a bureau de change.
Dimov pointed out that he did not know what they were looking for until the very end. During the arrest, the police officers explained to him that he was accused of “abuse of public trust”. He and his defenders requested that the case be dismissed and sent for consideration in Sofia, where he lives and works. Judge Elena Zakhova, however, considered their request unfounded, since according to the law it is important where the wanted person is detained.
Prosecutor Vladimir Valev pointed out that in Austria such a crime carries up to 10 years in prison.
“There is no danger of him going into hiding. He is a man with a serious biography and a family,” Yordanov pointed out.
“I am asking you to change my pretrial detention, I have not committed any crimes. I am asking you to protect the dignity and honor of a Bulgarian citizen,” Ivan Dimov asked the court.
According to judge Elena Zakhova, the existence of a reasonable assumption about the guilt of the former deputy should not be discussed in this case. “It is about mutual trust between the member states of the European Union,” she said. He added that the European Arrest Warrant contains enough information about Dimov, and there is nothing to show that he cannot stay in custody.
The ruling is subject to appeal within 3 days before the Appellate Magistrates in Plovdiv.
