site.btaCourt Fines Nationalist Leader for Vandalizing LGBTQ Centre in Sofia

The Sofia City Court sentenced nationalist Boyan Stankov, better known as Boyan Rasate, to pay a BGN 3,000 fine for breaking into the office of a LGBTQ centre in Sofia last fall. The perpetrator will also have to pay BGN 4,000 in court costs.

Rasate, an independent presidential candidate at the time, was arrested on November 2 after it was established that on October 30, together with a group of people, he entered the office of a foundation in Sofia and started shouting, tearing down furniture and spraying the walls.

According to the ruling, Rasate tipped over a book shelf in the office and sliced the tires of an electrical scooter. He was acquitted of the charges that he acted with extreme audacity and inflicted moderate bodily injuries on an activist from the LGBTQ centre.

The court lifted Rasate's BGN 5,000 bail and left him on parole.

Rasate was charged with disorderly conduct, public disrespect and causing minor injury to a person driven by hooliganism. The prosecuting magistracy demanded a two-year conditional sentence with four years of probation.

The defendant said he cannot pay the fine and court costs, because he is unemployed, adding that he would do so after he finds the money. He is yet to decide with his lawyer whether to appeal the sentence.

According to the lawyer of the activist who sued Rasate for inflicting bodily injury on her, a number of factors have led to the Rasate's sentence. The most important one was the incomplete legal qualifications of the charges. Other factors are the decision not to fully investigate and the hastily pressed charges.