The Plovdiv District Court has released 36-year-old Lalio Bichev on €3,000 bail after prosecutors accused him of poisoning and killing eight protected vultures and a raven near Kalofer. The court ordered that the amount be paid within seven days.
Prosecutors had requested that Bichev remain in custody, while his defense sought a signature or release on a less restrictive measure. The court ultimately determined that bail was the appropriate measure, citing the defendant's family circumstances and the lack of evidence that he would flee or commit another crime.
Bichev was detained on August 21 after an investigation into the deaths of the birds, which were found on August 18 and 19 in the Shipchenska Mandra area near Kalofer, within the Central Balkan National Park. The dead birds included five black vultures, two griffon vultures and one bearded vulture, as well as a raven, according to the case presented in court.
The prosecution alleges that Bichev placed the highly toxic pesticide Lanate on the carcass of a calf that had died, apparently after being attacked by a bear. Prosecutor Svetoslava Pencheva said the substance is banned for use by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency and across the European Union.
