Ilian Todorov, wanted to serve a sentence for the double murder near the Solo disco in Sofia in 2009, has been detained in Uzbekistan, BNT has learned.
Last Wednesday, Todorov tried to leave Tashkent through the airport in the Uzbek capital with a fake passport, and this became the reason for his detention. According to BNT sources, Todorov had changed his appearance by growing a beard.
He was circulated as wanted by Interpol.
After an exchange of information between the Uzbek authorities and the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, the identity of Ilian Todorov was confirmed on Sunday.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria has been officially informed by the Interpol office in Tashkent that on March 1, Bulgarian citizen Ilian Todorov, circulated as internationally wanted with a European Arrest Warrant and an Interpol Red Notice, was detained.
Ilian Todorov has been sentenced in the final case closed by the Supreme Court of Cassation in December 2013.
He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for intentionally killing V.A. and K.V. and attempting to intentionally kill K.D. on 18 April 2009 in Sofia, the act having been committed on hooligan motives (the murders near the Solo disco in Sofia in 2009).
When the case was heard at first instance by the Sofia City Court, Ilian Todorov was acquitted in 2011 for the acts he committed. On 2 April 2013, the second instance, Sofia Court of Appeals, reversed the original decision and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment. This sentence was subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The announcement of the authorities in Tashkent states that on March 1, 2023, Ilian Todorov was stopped for a check at "exit" on a flight to Istanbul. It was found that the passport with which the Bulgarian citizen had identified himself was forged, and the person was detained. The competent border authorities as well as the competent Prosecutor's office in Uzbekistan were involved in the investigation.
With the assistance of the competent Bulgarian authorities, it was established that the detained person is the wanted Ilian Todorov.
The Prosecutor's Office in Uzbekistan initiated pre-trial proceedings for use of a false document by Todorov.
The International Department of the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office maintains constant communication with the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan, through the International Operational Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior.
"We are about to send extradition documents, according to a 2004 agrremrnt between Bulgaria and Uzbekistan. In this regard, the Prosecutor General will urgently request an official videoconference with the Prosecutor General of UzbekistanSiyka Mileva, the spokesperson of the Prosecutor General, said on March 6.
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Ilian Todorov fatally stabbed two young men and seriously injured a third in front of the Solo disco club in Sofia on Easter, April 18, 2009. He was hiding outside Bulgaria for more than 10 years to avoid serving his life imprisonment sentence for the deaths of 21-year-old Kiril Vazharov, a goalie for the national ice hockey team, and 24-year-old Vasil Alexandrov.