Bulgaria: The Court left Vasil Bozhkov in Custody - He communicated with Prigozhin?

Vasil Bozhkov remains in custody permanently, the Bulgarian court decided, after the gambling boss was detained on his return to Bulgaria. During the court session, the prosecutor's office presented data on communication and joint business between Bozhkov and the leader of the private military company "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin.

On leaving the courtroom, when asked by BNT if he would appeal, the businessman said he would.

Pointing to evidence of Vasyl Bozhkov's close relationship with Prigozhin and other Russian citizens such as  Alexei Gabrev, a former head of Rosneft and designated by the prosecution as part of the ruling elite in Moscow, the state prosecution motivated their thesis that Vasil Bozhkov had both the financial, as well as purely logistical possibilities to hide.

It also became clear that Bozhkov's gambling business even reached the illegally annexed Crimea, and in Moldova and in Bulgaria, the businessman's companies are being investigated for concealment of gambling fees. The case was heard in the late afternoon yesterday at the Sofia Courthouse in the capital under heightened security measures even in the building, although on the day off only journalists were inside besides the litigants.

Special security measures, fenced corridors and silence on the part of Vasil Bozhkov marked the beginning of the court session. In court, the prosecutor's office asked for the businessman's permanent detention, and Bozhkov replied: "the prosecutor can ask for whatever he wants."

Prosecutor Angel Kanev first pointed to the evidence that motivated the conclusion that Bozhkov could hide. It became clear that he left the country the day before the action, after an unnamed politician warned him of what was being prepared....