Capital punishment in Bulgaria

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Abolished for all offences
Abolished in practice
Retains capital punishment Death Penalty laws in Europe.svg
Europe holds the greatest concentration of abolitionist states (blue). Map current as of 2023
  Abolished for all offences
  Abolished in practice
  Retains capital punishment

Capital punishment in Bulgaria was abolished on December 12, 1998 with the last execution, that of attempted saboteur Georgi Alinski, having been carried out on November 4, 1989. [1] The Parliament of Bulgaria had introduced a moratorium on executions on July 7, 1990 and Protocol 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights came into force on October 1, 1999.

Contents

A 2016 poll found that 47% of Bulgarians were opposed to the Death Penaty, while 33% were in support. [2] [3] [4]

Notable executions in the 20th-century

Kingdom of Bulgaria

Executed personGenderDate of sentenceDate of executionPlace of executionCrimeMethodRef.
Marko Fridman  [ bg ]Male192527 May 1925 Sofia Communist terrorists participating in the St Nedelya Church assault Hanging [5]
Petar Zadgorski
Georgi Koev
Georgi Mandulov  [ bg ]27 June 1925 Anton Conspiring to aid communist activity Firing squad [6]
Nesho Shabanov  [ bg ]
The Gostevi brothers
Sokrat Kirshveng 193714 April 1937Sofia"The Killer with the Adze"; serial killer who killed his aunt and her husband during a robbery in Sofia, but had previously been convicted of killing two wives and attempting to kill a third in 1919. The first sentence was commuted to 17 years imprisonment, and he was released in 1937.Hanging [7]
August Popov  [ bg ]194226 June 1942Instigating communist rebellion; tried as part of the "Parachutist trial  [ bg ]" Firing squad [8]
Trifon Georgiev
Vasil Yotov
Ivan Izatovski
Yozef Baido
Andon Bekyarov
Dimitar Dimitrov
Vasil Dodov
Stefan Pashev
Boris Tomchev
Delcho Naplatanov
Ivan Drenovski
Georgi Kratunchev
Dimitar Teplyakov
Ivan Ivanov
Georgi Bashikarov
Yanko Komitov
Todor Nikolov
Nikolai Romanov
Mirko Petkov
Simeon Slavov
Ivan Shterev
Milyo Milev
Dimo Astadzhov
Vladimir Chernov
Cvyatko Radoinov  [ bg ] [9]
Anton Ivanov  [ bg ]23 July 1942Communist revolutionaries in opposition to the Filov government [10]
Anton Popov  [ bg ] [11]
Nikola Vaptsarov [12]
Atanas Romanov  [ bg ] [13]
Petar Bogdanov  [ bg ] [14]
Georgi Minchev  [ bg ] [14]
Vasil Antevski  [ bg ]18 August 1942Participation in the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Hanging [15]
Adalbert Antonov  [ bg ]4 December 1942Participation in the Workers Youth League Firing squad [16]
Yovan Basarov  [ bg ]21 March 1943 Skopje Participation in the League of Communists of YugoslaviaHanging [17]
Boyan Chonos  [ bg ]194313 October 1943 Vidin Aiding communist rebellion [18]
Ferdinand Aleksandrov  [ bg ]17 December 1943 Pleven Firing squad [19]
Yakim Atanasov  [ bg ]19441 March 1944 Lom Leading a communist partisan squadronHanging [20]
Ferdinand Milanov  [ bg ]1 June 1944 Plovdiv Aiding communist rebellionFiring squad [21]
Yozo Tobiev  [ bg ]
Yordanka Chankova  [ bg ]Female Eleshnitsa Participating on the communist side during the "Battle of Batulia  [ bg ]" [22]
Frank Thompson Male10 June 1944 Litakovo  [ bg ] [23]
Lazar Atanasov
Hristo Gurbov
Ivan Harlakov  [ bg ]19451945SofiaMember of the Tsarist government [24]
Kiril, Prince of Preslav 1 February 1945Member of the royal family and regent of Bulgaria [25]
Nikola Mihov Lieutenant general and regent of Bulgaria [26]
Dobri Bozhilov Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, supposed charges of war and financial crimes [27]
Petar Gabrovski Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria and lawyer [28]
Ivan Bagrianov Member of the Tsarist government [29]
Rashko Atanasov  [ bg ] [30]
Ivan Beshkov  [ bg ] [31]
Ivan Vazov  [ bg ] [32]
Dimitar Shishmanov  [ bg ] [33]
Sirko Stanchev  [ bg ] [34]
Aleksandar Stanishev  [ bg ] [35]
Spas Ganev  [ bg ] [36]
Delcho Todorov  [ bg ]
Nikola Stoychev  [ bg ]
Bogdan Filov 2 February 1945 Prime Minister of Bulgaria and regent of the Tsarist government [37]
Aleksandar Staliyski Collaboration with pro-Axis cabinet [38]
Yordan Sevov  [ bg ]Member of the Tsarist government [39]
Lyuben Stanchev  [ bg ]6 March 1945unknown [40]
Konstantin Lukash 15 March 1945SofiaOfficer and Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian Army [41]
Trifon Trifonov  [ bg ]Member of the Tsarist government [42]
Nicho Georgiev  [ bg ]21 April 1945 [43]
Vasil Zlatevski  [ bg ]September 1945 Kyustendil Goryanin, waging rebellion against the communist governmentHanging [44]
Docho Hristov  [ bg ]26 October 1945unknownAttempted rebellion against the communist governmentFiring squad [45]

People's Republic of Bulgaria

Executed personGenderDate of sentenceDate of executionPlace of executionCrimeMethodRef.
Faik Aliev  [ bg ]Male19481948 Nevrokop Goryanin, waging rebellion against the communist governmentHanging [46]
Pavel Djidjov 19523 October 1952SofiaCatholics, subverting communist ideologyFiring squad [47]
Eugene Bossilkov 11 November 1952 [48]
Josaphat Chichkov [47]
Kamen Vitchev
Ivan-Asen Georgiev  [ bg ]19634 January 1964 Espionage on behalf of the United States Shooting [49]
Radan Sarafov  [ bg ]18 February 196818 February 1969Espionage on behalf of the United States, France and Albania [50]
Georgi Yordanov 19751975Known as "Joro the Paver, the Second". Serial rapist who raped ten women in Sofia in the early 1970s, committing a double murder in the process. [51]
Zhivko Dimitrov 19811981 Tolbuhin Serial killer. Murdered six people in Dobrich Province from 1975 to 1981 for money. [52]
Georgi Alinski19844 November 1989SofiaAttempted to sabotage a lift in Borovets to prevent the country from participating in a ski championship [1]

See also

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