The Sofia City Court ruled that the 32-year-old man who attacked meteorologists at the weather forecasting station on Murgash Peak should be placed under house arrest. However, he will not stay at his parents' home but will be placed in the state psychiatric hospital "Saint Ivan Rilski" in Novi Iskar.
The magistrates' reasoning is that at this point there is sufficient evidence of Stoyanov's possible involvement in the beating of the meteorologists, but not whether he can be held criminally responsible.
Two meteorologists at weather forecasting station on Murgash Peak were violently attacked
The psychiatric facility will conduct an evaluation of his mental competence.
"I am Stoyan’s mother. First and foremost, I want to express my immense pain and sympathy for the victims. I also want to express my immense pain that our son is also a victim. Something happened on the way to Sofia - he was most likely attacked and survived for several days alone, naked and hungry, in the mountains. The tragic incident in this case saved his life. The police were notified about his disappearance two days before the incident. I want to say to everyone here—the system is not working. In such an incident, when someone with severe mental health issues goes missing, it is normal for emergency services and mountain rescue teams to be notified because, if these people knew about our case, they would have sheltered him, and it would not have come to this point. He was treated abroad before he returned, and the system works great there—people with mental illnesses receive all the attention from society," said Stoyanov’s mother.
"I personally think that his placement in a psychiatric health centre is better for him, because there, in addition to the medications he is taking, he will be under the observation of specialist doctors, who I believe will take the necessary steps for his recovery," said Todor Todorov, a lawyer.