Ivaylo Tsvetkov – Noisi secretly sold his luxury BMW X5 jeep, with which on November 17, 2023. was caught driving drunk on Simeonovsko Shosse in Sofia, but escaped with an effective conviction after reaching an agreement.
The journalist transferred ownership of the vehicle last fall, and it is not yet known whether the deal was fictitious and aimed at saving him from confiscation of his car in favor of the state, or whether the sale of the BMW was real because his driver's license was taken away.
This was revealed by "Weekend".
Ivaylo Tsvetkov's suspended sentence – Noisi for driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 2.52 per mille was pronounced last spring and even then angered the public because of the special attitude of the court towards him.
Not only did Maria Ignatova's husband not go to prison for at least 1 year, which is the minimum punishment provided for in the Road Traffic Act, but unlike many other drivers, his car was not confiscated in favor of the state. Noisi got away with only a suspended sentence of 10 months and a symbolic fine of 1,000 leva, and subsequently the court ordered that the bail of 15,000 leva, paid by him for his release from arrest, be returned to him.
The case of Ivaylo Tsvetkov's drunken brawl – Noisi has been on the agenda again after it became known that the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against the judge of the district court in the capital, Miroslav Petrov. The reason is the suspended sentence he issued for Noisi and his decision to return the journalist's jeep instead of ordering the vehicle to be confiscated.
In a letter to the judges of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), Miroslav Petrov asks for protection and complains that the district court has received a letter from the prosecutor's office requesting all his rulings under the provision of the Criminal Code under which Noisi was tried. The review of the judge's court decisions is aimed at establishing whether he confiscated the cars of other drivers caught driving after drinking alcohol, or whether he applied special justice to the popular journalist.
Judge Miroslav Petrov is also complaining to the Supreme Judicial Council because he received a letter from Diana Rusinova from the organization "European Center for Transport Policies", which contained hints of corrupt practices.
"For the first time in my 15-year practice as a judge, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria has allowed itself to initiate an investigation against me as a sign of disagreement with my principled position on the application of national law, using a seemingly legitimate toolkit to intimidate me and attempting to improperly influence upcoming rulings on cases with a similar subject matter. I consider this approach unacceptable, as it reflects negatively on the prestige of the court, as a judicial body, whose constitutionally assigned role is to uphold the principles of the rule of law and guarantee the rights of citizens," writes Judge Miroslav Petrov to the Supreme Judicial Council.
According to the prosecutor's office, the magistrate was investigated due to a request from the association "Angels of the Road", which includes parents of children who died in accidents. "Angels of the Road" were publicly outraged when Ivaylo Tsvetkov was sentenced to probation and threatened to initiate an investigation against Judge Miroslav Petrov, who ordered that Noyzi not be imprisoned and that his car not be confiscated.