The Sofia Appellate Court upheld a previous ruling denying the request for early release of Evelin “Brendo” Banev, who is currently incarcerated in Sofia for drug trafficking offenses. The initial denial of the early release application occurred on March 27, 2026, by the Sofia City Court. The application was submitted by the head of the Sofia Prison, where Banev is serving a sentence following convictions in Bulgaria, Italy, and Romania.
The legal proceedings were marked by procedural developments, including the suspension of the prison head, Borislav Chobanski, by caretaker Justice Minister Andrey Yankulov, after it was revealed he had initiated the release request. The first-instance court determined that Banev had not completed more than half of his total sentence, which constitutes a prerequisite for considering the second condition related to good conduct. Furthermore, Prosecutor Gergana Kyurkchiyska stated that Banev had failed to provide conclusive evidence demonstrating that the time served had achieved its intended corrective purpose.
Banev was initially arrested in 2012 during a joint Bulgarian-Italian law enforcement operation. In 2013, he received a 20-year sentence in Italy for his involvement in an international cocaine-trafficking ring. After the Sofia City Prosecution Office issued a European Arrest Warrant in July 2018, seeking to locate him for a six-year sentence, Banev surrendered to Bulgarian authorities on June 24, 2024, and was taken to Sofia’s Central Prison.
Following this, he sought to serve his Italian and Romanian sentences within Bulgaria. In April 2025, the SCC ruled that Banev would serve a total of ten years and six months in Bulgaria for crimes committed across Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy, with time already detained in Italy and Sofia being deducted.
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