Prosecutor’s Office seeks extension of pretrial detention for man accused of setting Bulgarian Embassy vehicle on fire in Skopje

A public prosecutor from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption has filed an indictment with the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje against one person for the criminal offense of “endangering internationally protected persons,” following the completion of the investigation.

According to the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office, the defendant is suspected of starting a fire in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje at around 12:05 p.m. on June 15 of this year, creating a serious risk to the lives and physical safety of persons under international protection.

The indictment states that the man had previously filled a plastic bottle with gasoline at a gas station near the Embassy and then headed toward the diplomatic mission. After approaching the parked vehicles used by the military attaché of the Republic of Bulgaria and other Embassy employees, he doused them with gasoline and set them on fire. He fled the scene immediately afterward.

Along with the indictment, the public prosecutor proposed that the court extend the pretrial detention previously imposed on the defendant. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the grounds on which the measure was imposed and extended remain in place.

The Prosecutor’s Office believes that the circumstances of the case create a possibility that the defendant could become unavailable to law enforcement authorities and thereby obstruct the criminal proceedings. The request to extend the measure also took into consideration the penalty prescribed for this criminal offense, as well as the nature of the acts with which he is charged, which were directed against the security and rights of internationally protected persons, including diplomatic representatives.

Under the provisions of the Criminal Code, the offense with which the defendant is charged is punishable by at least one year in prison./Telegrafi/