Bulgarian far-right Ataka MP gets two years probation for hooliganism
Sofia City Court sentenced Dessislav Chukolov, an MP for Volen Siderov’s far-right Ataka minority opposition party, to two years’ probation, community service and 25 per cent deduction from his salary after he pleaded guilty to two counts of hooliganism.
The court ruling on May 25 2016 arose from two incidents in 2015 in which Siderov was also involved. Siderov already has received sentences of probation and community service after pleading guilty on hooliganism and minor assault charges.
In connection with a late-night incident at a liquor and tobacco shop in Sofia, which involved confrontations with the owners, staff and police, Chukolov was sentenced to two years’ probation and a 25 per cent deduction from his salary.
Chukolov, deputy head of the Ataka parliamentary group and who has been an MP in four Bulgarian parliament since first being elected to the 40th National Assembly in 2005, was given six months’ probation for an incident in which he was involved in an Ataka incursion into the National Academy of Film and Theatre Arts in Sofia.
Sofia City Court ordered Chukolov to meet with a probation officer every week until the expiry of his sentence. The court combined sentences handed to Chukolov in both cases, opting for the heavier version.
Outside the court, Chukolov told reporters that he would not be appealing against the sentence.
“When we begin to approve the Judiciary Act I will be extremely active, because I have seen the system from inside and out,” Chukolov said.
Reports in recent days said that Siderov had begun to serve the community service he was ordered to carry out. Siderov had asked that the community service take the form of cleaning monuments such as the frequently-daubed Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia, but it had been explained to him that convicts did not have the option of choosing what form their community service takes.
