Sat, Feb 11 2012

Bulgarian sentenced to life sentence in Iran for ferrying heroin

Mon, Nov 09 2009 12:38 CET

byPetar Kostadinov

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Bulgarian sentenced to life sentence in Iran for ferrying heroin

Photo: Nadezhda Chipeva

Bulgarian lorry driver Zhivko Roussev was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Iranian court after being accused of ferrying 135kg of heroin, Bulgarian private broadcaster bTV said on November 9 2009.

Roussev (55) pleaded not guilty and can appeal against his sentence, bTV said. If the verdict is confirmed at the next two court hearings, he will probably be unable to serve his sentence in a Bulgarian jail because Bulgaria and Iran do not have a bilateral agreement on transfer of prisoners.

Drug trafficking in Iran is punishable by death.

In January 2009, Roussev was reported by Bulgarian media to have been in an Iranian jail four months after he had disappeared without a trace. The Bulgarian driver was caught by police in Tabriz in September 2008. All along, his daughter had thought that he had gone to Armenia to be with a girlfriend.

His employer, a Bulgarian company, initially did not disclose any information, but after some time they had reported him missing. It transpired that Roussev had been arrested after police found a hidden compartment in his lorry with 135kg of heroin.

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