Georgi Georgiev,
Minister of Justice,
announced on Facebook that the case of sadistic and horrific cruelty to animals, which was uncovered in Pernik a few days ago, requires a firm institutional response.
In the past two days, the Ministry of Justice has prepared amendments to the Criminal Code, proposing new, more severe penalties for cases of extreme cruelty towards animals, especially when the act is filmed for the purpose of distribution and/or financial gain.
For this offense, the proposed penalty is 3 to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of 5 to 20 thousand Bulgarian leva.
Changes to Article 325b of the Criminal Code also suggest that acts of extreme cruelty towards animals should be punished with 2 to 8 years of imprisonment and a fine of 2 to 10 thousand Bulgarian leva.
This is a double increase of the maximum penalty, which gives the courts greater opportunities to individualize the sanction, taking into account the specific level of public danger demonstrated by the perpetrator.
The current size of the penalties - from one to four and from two to four years, does not allow for the court's discretion to be exercised, due to the small difference between the special minimum and special maximum for this type of sanction.
At the same time, I have requested information from the prosecutor's office on the number of signals and cases initiated for acts of cruelty towards animals under Article 325b of the Criminal Code in the last 3 years, which we will analyze.
The Ministry of Justice is ready to consider proposals for changes to the Criminal Code, made by political parties. Our goal is for the National Assembly to adopt a precise and effective legal framework in a short period of time, which demonstrates the determination of the institutions and the entire society to counter cases of unexpected violence and complete disregard for public order.
6096 | 17 March 2025 | 13:18
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