At Thursday’s hearing, Filip Andov (aka Sokol), former head of the Suto Orizari prison, and six prison police officers, pled not guilty.
They did so after the opening statement of the representative of the Prosecutor’s Office. Andov and part of the officers are on trial for abuse of official position, while the rest of the officers are being tried for unscrupulous operation within the service.
The Prosecutor’s Office’s representative stated that five convicts, on nine occasions, had been taken to their homes even though there were special procedures for such activities determined through a commission, which hadn’t been the case in the frames of the defendants’ activities.
On the other hand, Andov said his actions had been legal, adding that the Prosecutor’s Office had confused procedures for convicts for the protocol to escort the transfer of detainees. According to him, prison security was never compromised.