THE COURTCASE ON THE EXTRADITION OF BULGARIAN FORMER BANKER TZVETAN VASSILEV ANNOUNCED FOR DECISION

The court case on the extradition of Tzvetan Vassilev, the former majority shareholder of the insolvent Corporate Commercial Bank, was announced for decision, the court in Belgrade told BNT on 7th of April. This means the judge determined that all evidence and relevant information on the case had been collected and there is no need for further hearings.

If Vassilev applied for asylum in Serbia, which he did not deny or confirm on 6th of April, the Serbian court has judged that this does not necessitate suspension of the extradition procedure.

The Serbian law does not provide for any specific deadline for the court to make the judgement, which means the court may pronounce the decision in the next few days or later, BNT reporter Ivo Nikodimov said.

On 6th of April, the court in Belgrade continued the hearing (which started on 16th of March) on the Bulgarian authorities’ request for the extradition of the former Bulgarian former majority shareholder of insolvent Corporate Commercial Bank, Tzvetan Vassilev.

Speaking to journalists outside the building of the court in Belgrade, Vassilev said that he would bring Bulgaria to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The former banker explained that he presented evidence for political pressure on the investigation against him.

Political arguments and poor conditions in prisons in Bulgaria were among the arguments in the defence strategy of Tzvetan Vassilev in the high court in Belgrade. The former majority shareholder of CCB argues that the decision for his extradition to Bulgaria would be politically motivated.