The Smolyan District Court ordered the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria to pay BGN 30,000 in compensation to Dimitar Stefanov, chief architect of the municipality of Nedelino. The magistrates accepted his claim for non-pecuniary damages from unlawful prosecution as justified, after he had lived for more than a year as a defendant in an investigation that ended with the opposite conclusion: “the act is not a crime.”
Chronology of an unfounded accusation
The story begins in 2019 with a pre-trial investigation by the Zlatograd Police Department into infrastructure projects in the municipality of Nedelino. On March 19, 2021, Dimitar Stefanov was charged with a crime under Article 311, para. 1 of the Penal Code in connection with Article 26, para. 1 – for drawing up official documents with false content (Form 19 acts and acceptance and transfer protocols for several contracts and sites), and a “signature bond” measure was taken against him. This was followed by procedural and investigative actions and interrogations, and according to the case file, the summonses were served at the last minute, which further burdened his work in the municipality. On March 30, 2022, the prosecutor’s office terminated the proceedings, and the ruling came into force on April 7, 2022, with a motive that says everything important about the case: the act committed is not a crime.
The shortcomings of the prosecution
The court’s reasoning explicitly states that Dimitar Stefanov’s actions lacked both objective and subjective elements of a crime. The prosecution is obliged to bring and maintain substantiated charges, and when the outcome is “no crime,” the damage has already been done—to the person’s name, professional identity, and personal life.
The medical and social cost of pressure
A forensic psychiatric examination was accepted in the case, according to which Stefanov developed a situationally conditioned anxiety-depressive disorder. The diagnosis was preceded by symptoms: insomnia, anxiety, irritability, high blood pressure, bouts of crying for no reason, loss of appetite, and sudden weight loss over a short period of time. He tried to keep the accusation a secret, withdrew into himself, and distanced himself from family and friends, until his father, a personal physician, asked him directly what was going on and prescribed treatment and a referral to a psychiatrist. In early June 2021, Stefanov seeks specialized help in Kardzhali, and his observation and therapy continue. Along with the health consequences come social ones – tension in the family, withdrawal from his circle of friends, suspicion in his professional environment, and damage to his reputation that cannot be erased with a single signature on a termination order.
Justice after a year and a half
The court ruled that the state owed compensation for damages as a direct consequence of the unlawful charges. The grounds for the decision take into account both the “light” measure of “signing a statement of good conduct” and the fact that the pre-trial phase ended after about a year and a month, as well as the more serious consequences: the negative impact on the victim’s mental health and well-being, fear for the future, and damage to his reputation. In determining the amount, the magistrates proceeded from the criterion of fairness and noted the moral weight of the prosecution’s conviction itself—as a form of public recognition that the damage was real.
And again, we will all pay
The prosecution must pay Dimitar Stefanov BGN 30,000 for non-pecuniary damages. On the claim for pecuniary damages, the court awards BGN 2,000 as a “reasonable” amount for legal representation in the pre-trial proceedings and rejects the difference up to the claimed BGN 12,222.20, as well as the claims for default interest on the fee and for the costs of copying documents. BGN 913.49 in court costs were also awarded.
And while the prosecution lost in court, the bill remains for Bulgarian citizens. And yet another BGN 30,000, for the umpteenth time, will not come out of the prosecutors’ pockets, but out of all of ours.
