Prosecutors have decided not to support the Bourgas Appellative Court's (BAC) decision of January 5 2009 to send two-time world champion ice skater Maxim Staviski to jail for two-and-a-half years, Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily said on April 15 2009.

Prosecutor Anton Lakov told the court that Staviski was an internationally famous figure who had raised Bulgaria's profile through his hard work. He also had a clean record and had admitted to all charges against him. This - in their opinion - should serve as grounds for not sending him to jail.

Staviski was initially given a suspended sentence of two years and six months, with five years' probation, for causing a road accident which led to the death of a young man, Petar Petrov, and severe injuries to a 19-year-old girl, Manuela Gorsova, who was left in a coma after the tragedy.

On October 27 2008, however, the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) ordered that the court case against Staviski be returned for re-trial. The SCC found that there had been irregularities in the conduct of the case and that Staviski should face a more severe sentence.

The BAC later decided Staviski should go to jail, a sentence the ice skater appealed against. On April 15 2009 prosecutors said that Staviski was sorry for what he had done and had paid 165 000 leva in damages to the victims.

Staviski himself said that he had made a serious mistake and was trying to atone.

Relatives of Gorsova, who is still in a grave condition after spending months in an Israeli clinic, have insisted that Staviski should be jailed.

The Supreme Court of Cassation must make a ruling within a month.