The Sofia Appellate Court recently upheld a decision by a first-instance court denying the early release of Evelin “Brendo” Banev, who is currently incarcerated in Sofia on drug trafficking charges. The appellate court determined that Banev has not completed more than half of his total sentence, which is a prerequisite for considering the second condition for release, such as good behavior. Prosecutor Gergana Kyurkchiyska noted that Banev had not presented conclusive evidence demonstrating that the time served had achieved a corrective purpose.
Banev was initially arrested in 2012 during a joint Bulgarian-Italian law enforcement operation. Subsequently, in 2013, he received a 20-year prison sentence in Italy for participation in an international cocaine-trafficking ring. In July 2018, the Sofia City Prosecution Office issued a European Arrest Warrant to locate him to serve a six-year sentence, as his whereabouts were unknown.
Banev, who had been subject to Interpol Red Notices since 2018, surrendered to Bulgarian authorities on June 24, 2024, and was transferred to Sofia’s Central Prison. Following his arrival, Banev requested that the Bulgarian court allow him to serve his sentences from Italy and Romania within Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the political party Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria sought a parliamentary hearing regarding Banev’s presence at the Central Prison.
During the hearing on June 28, 2024, caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov stated that the Interior Ministry possessed information indicating Banev entered Bulgaria by air between late March 2022 and early June 2022. In April 2025, the SCC ruled that Banev would serve a total prison sentence of ten years and six months in Bulgaria for crimes committed in Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy, deducting time already served in detention in Italy and Sofia. The court also observed that Italian authorities had not provided the rationale for their sentence and that communication with them had been delayed.
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