Three more criminals have been entered in the register of those pardoned since the beginning of Rumen Radev’s first term as president. With them, those who have received the highest state mercy since the beginning of 2017 become the 25th. The decrees for all three were issued last December. Since then, there have been no new pardons.
The first of the new three pardoned is 59 years old. He was convicted in 2019 for acts he committed in 1999-2000. The sentence was read by a court in Thessaloniki. He was found guilty of importing, trafficking and selling drugs in Greece and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which he served 5 years. “During the time from the execution of the acts to the passing of the sentence – almost 20 years – the state of health of the petitioner deteriorated very progressively”, it is written in the reasons of the commission, through which the requests for clemency pass. Doctors believe that convicts’ illnesses cannot be treated in prison hospitals. In addition, for 2 years, the serving of his sentence has been interrupted for health reasons. “Serving the punishment is incompatible in practice with the extremely serious health condition, which poses a danger to the petitioner’s life and would be a manifestation of inhumane treatment,” the reasons for pardoning the man with the remainder of his sentence also state.
An 87-year-old convicted of attempted murder and theft of a gun and ammunition has also been pardoned with the remainder of his sentence. The punishment for his first sentence is 3 years in prison, and for the second – 3 months. He is elderly and unconvicted. For him, the commission wrote in its reasons that he suffers from an illness due to which he is practically immobilized. “His behavior in prison is good, and the risk of recidivism is very low. He has served more than half of the first sentence and his behavior is very good,” the commission also wrote.
The third pardoned in December is a 51-year-old man with a higher education and two children, a farmer. He was given a suspended sentence of a year in prison and 2 years without a license for causing death in an accident. After the accident, he helped the victim, while she was also at fault for the accident, it is understood from the reasons of the commission. The petitioner, who had already been without a license for a year, was pardoned the remainder of this sentence. The commission wrote about him that he “exercises a variety of agricultural activities, financially providing for his family” and the lack of a driver’s license prevents him from doing so.
STATISTICS
From January 2022 to January 2023, the presidency received 274 requests for clemency. “As two cases, this number includes the 242 requests submitted by email and 11 on paper, referring to two persons,” the commission’s annual report says. Probably, this sea of requests is for Desislava Ivancheva and Bilyana Petrova. They were finally convicted of corruption in November of this year. and are currently serving their sentences in prison in Sliven. The sentence of the former mayor of the capital region “Mladost” is 6 years, and her former deputy Bilyana Petrova – 5 years.
Already last year, Vice President Iliana Yotova, to whom Radev has delegated the right to pardon, explained that Ivancheva’s request will be considered like all others. A basic principle of the pardon is that it cannot be used to review convictions. In addition, it is usually followed whether judicial mechanisms, such as parole, have been exhausted. That is why it is expected that the requests of Ivancheva and Petrova will be rejected.
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