On September 24, Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Cassation held its first hearing on the appeal in the case of two-time ice skating world champion Maxim Staviski, who caused a fatal car incident in summer 2007 near Sozopol. A ruling would be issued within 30 days, the court said.

The appeal was lodged by the Bourgas Appeal Prosecutor’s Office and the relatives of the victims of the car, who want the sentence overturned and a re-trial. Earlier this year, Staviski was found guilty on charges of drunk driving and received a suspended sentence of two years and six months and a five-year probation period.

Staviski crashed his Hummer vehicle, causing the death of a young man and severe injuries to 19-year-old Manuela Gorsova, who is still in coma. He was sentenced to pay 90 000 leva non-material damages and 4815 leva in material damages to the parents of the man who died.

After the hearing, Staviski told reporters that he did not drive a car in Russia, where he is currently residing, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported. He has had his driving license suspended and denied that he was the person caught on camera, clips of whom were posted on Russian video sharing websites and caused an uproar in Bulgarian media, given the resemblance of the man to Staviski.