Despite the fact that Plamen Galeva and Angel Hristov, commonly referred to as the "Galevi brothers", failed to win seats in Parliament at the July 5 2009 elections, they will not be sent back to prison, Sofia prosecutor Nikolai Kokinov was quoted by Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily on July 6 2009.

Both were released, despite being charged with organising a criminal group, after registering as majority candidates for the elections, granting them immunity from prosecution. The court trial was put on hold for the duration of the campaign as the law requires.

Now, however, even though they failed to win the vote in the towns of Doupnitsa and Pernik, Kokinov said that they cannot be automatically sent back to prison. The two 'brothers' were first jailed in December 2008.

When they were freed by the court they were granted bail. Only if they break bail conditions can they be sent back to jail, Kokinov said, noting that failing to appear in court or committing another crime would constitute such an infringement.

"However, I expect that they will do everything possible not to break their bail terms, so that they can remain free," said Kokinov. He also said that the Kuystendil court should restart the case as soon as possible so that the bail conditions could be changed. The court case is currently on hold, hence they cannot be automatically returned to prison.

The possibility of people such as the "Galevi brothers", who have never been convicted of a crime but are allegedly involved in controversial activities, standing for election was described by many as a serious flaw in election legislation.

A few weeks ahead of elections President Georgi Purvanov said that there should be a legal way of preventing such people from running for public posts, although nothing has been yet proven about them. Plamen Galev won about 17 000 votes in Doupnitsa, coming second to Valentin Mekev  with his 24 000 votes in the town. Mekev was raised by GERB, the party who won the elections on a national level.


The "Galevi brothers" were not the only individuals to stand for election and exploit the immunity from prosecution clause. Politician and businessman Alexander Tomov, former head of debt-ridden Kremikovtzi steel plant and CSKA football club, also managed to put his court trial on hold for the duration of the campaign. Tomov, together with several others, is accused of malfeasance in office. In his capacity as leader of the Bulgarian Social Democracy party he stood for Parliament, but also failed to win.

Father and son Vesselin and Hristo Danov, municipal councillors from the Black Sea city of Varna, also decided to run for Parliament but the court decided not to free them because of the volume of evidence against them. Both are currently under arrest, accused of forming a criminal group and forcing people into prostitution.