Georgi Zhelyazkov and Stoyan Stoichkov who were sentenced to 19 and 17 years in prison, respectively, for the murder of Bulgarian law student Martin Borilski, turned themselves in on February 15 2010 after being missing for almost two weeks.

The news was confirmed by Elena Bangieva, spokesperson of the regional court in the Black Sea city of Varna.

The two appeared in the presence of Varna lawyer Borislav Zhelayzkov, father of Georgi Zhelyazkov.

Both Georgi Zhelyazkov and Stoyan Stoichkov were immediately placed under arrest in accordance with the arrest from the Veliko Turnovo Court of Appeals who, on February 4 2010, found them guilty of the brutal murder of Borilski. Borilski had been found, stabbed more than 90 times and with his skull smashed with a dumbbell in his Paris apartment in 2000.

Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov failed to attend the February 4 2010 hearing of their case in Veliko Turnovo. Their lawyers at the time claimed they had difficulty reaching the town with their vehicle.

After the court found them guilty of the murder of Borilski, the court ordered both defendants to be moved to prison immediately. This did not happen as both Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov went missing only to appear in Varna on February 15. Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov were also ordered by the court to pay Borilski’s mother 120 000 leva.

Four days after both went missing, Stoichkov's lawyer Yulian Georgiev was quoted by Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik as saying, that his client was not a fugitive from justice because the court in Veliko Tunovo had overstepped its jurisdiction by asking for his immediate arrest.

Both Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov had previously been set free on bail for the duration of the trial and were not banned from leaving Bulgaria, although France was about to start a parallel case in the Borilski murder and had issued an international warrant for their arrest.

The Borilski case has went through highly controversial stages over the years, putting at stake the credibility of the Bulgarian judiciary in the eyes of the foreign community, most notably the French embassy in Bulgaria, which carefully monitored developments.

After Borilski had been found dead in his Paris flat on July 20 2000, it took  Bulgarian authorities two years to put Georgi Zhelyazkov and Stoyan Stoichkov, identified as suspects by the French police, on trial.

Both were later acquitted, as almost all evidence gathered by French police was challenged successfully by the defence as failing to comply with the Bulgarian penal procedure code.

In May 2009, the Supreme Court of Cassation returned the case to the Veliko Turnovo Court of Appeals and overturned the acquittals of Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov.

On January 22 2010, French ambassador to Bulgaria, Etienne de Poncins, said that the outcome of the Borilski case would be decisive in forming France's position on the development of the Bulgarian judiciary.

After the Veliko Turnovo Court of Appeals found Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov guilty of the murder of Borilski, their lawyers said they intended to appeal.