Former policewoman Simona Radeva, dismissed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs after the accident on Cherni Vrah Blvd. with two victims, for which Georgi Semerdzhiev is accused, is contesting her suspension in court. The argument is that she was not given the extra time she requested to respond to the commission investigating possible wrongdoing by her following this incident. This is clear from the case file, through which she appealed her release from the police.
In court, her lawyer argued that she was not given an opportunity to defend herself before the disciplinary committee and therefore the dismissal should be overturned. There is still no decision on the case.
Witnesses
Suspicions about Radeva’s relationship with Semerdzhiev appeared immediately after the serious accident in which two young women died in front of the capital’s “Hemus” hotel last summer. They were swept away by Semerdzhiev’s car as they waited on the sidewalk. The driver fled and was later arrested at his apartment, despite being wanted months earlier but untraceable by police.
That Radeva and Semerdzhiev know each other was confirmed within the framework of the criminal case being conducted against him. Before the court, the young woman admitted that after the accident, she took him a ladder, which he used to get home. According to the prosecutor’s office, this was necessary because he left his house keys in the oiled car when he fled.
During the investigation against her, the interrogations of witnesses in the criminal investigation were included in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, according to her lawyer, their testimony was accepted uncritically and on trust.
“The Commission was obliged to summon the applicant to give explanations and to be heard. She was summoned, appeared, gave explanations and asked to be given the opportunity to comment within 7 days“, he says. In order to justify the additional term, Radeva presented a sheet of medical examination. However, this was refused by the commission, the lawyer explains. Thus, her right to defense was limited.
Evidence from television
There is no obstacle to the inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to include materials from other proceedings, says the law consultant of the law enforcement agency in response. He points out that protocols have been drawn up for the interrogations in the criminal case.
“This evidence establishes the violation committed by the applicant of official discipline“, he says and adds that there are no violations of the procedure because Radeva gave explanations that were accepted by the disciplinary committee.
The legal consultant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs requested that a disc with a report aired on Nova TV two days after the accident be included in the case. He claims that it can be used to prove Radeva’s relationship with Semerdzhiev.
“The fact that the media and media broadcasts are evidence arouses legitimate concern in me, and I hope in court as well“, her lawyer retorted.
In the end, the court rejected the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the report was not accepted as evidence.
The case has not yet been resolved. In addition, there is a possibility of appeal to the next instance.
An umbrella
The Semerdzhiev case led to a huge scandal. Months after the disaster, almost all the heads of regional offices in Sofia were replaced, and the interior minister announced that 40 officials, including high-ranking ones, had been involved in covering up the violations for years.
The prosecutor’s office took action after the tragedy, but it turned out that years earlier it refused to open a case against Semerdzhiev with an absurd argument – he did not know that he had already been punished for driving without a license and when he was caught again, he “was not aware” that he was doing repeated offence. This finding was indicated even though the Ministry of Internal Affairs used the procedure prescribed in the law for the so-called service in absentia when the offender cannot be found.
