Chapter 21
The Bottom of the Sludge: A Story of Emil and the Destroyed State
Imagine that you are on a journey. You believe that there are rules, that there are traffic signs, that there are laws to protect you. You know that if you make a mistake, you will be punished, but according to the rules. But what happens when you realize that the road is a swamp, the signs are fake, and the rules apply only to some, but not to those who are supposed to guard them? This is the story of Emil, which shows us the bottom of the sludge into which a state can sink.
Emil is charged with robbery. Specifically, clearly, described. He prepares to defend himself against exactly that. It is like being told: "We accuse you of stealing bread." And you, if you did it, will confess. If you didn't, you will prove otherwise. That is fair. That is justice.
But instead of being tried for the "theft of bread", the judges of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court start talking about a "stolen limousine" and "jewelry taken from a bank" – things for which Emil was never accused. They were not in the indictment. He had no idea that he had to defend himself against them. And yet, they convict him of these invented crimes.
For Emil, this is like being kidnapped. Not by bandits with black masks, but by people in robes who are on the state payroll. They take him and throw him into prison for something he did not do, and for which he was not accused.
Why is this "The Bottom of the Sludge"?
When you hear about Emil, you might think: "How so? Aren't there laws? Aren't there courts?" Yes, there are. But when they work this way, they turn into their complete opposite.
* There is no Justice, but Arbitrariness: Justice is applying the law fairly and equally to everyone. When judges invent charges and convict a person on them, that is not justice. That is arbitrariness. It is like being tried for one thing and punished for something completely different, which they learned from some rumor or made up on the go. Emil is kidnapped into prison precisely by this arbitrariness. He is deprived of liberty without any legal basis regarding what he was convicted of. This is not a mistake. This is a deliberate distortion of the rules.
* There is no Rule of Law, but a Farce: A state ruled by law is a state in which the law is above everything. Everyone, even the rulers and the judges, must obey the law. When state officials – in this case, judges – act outside the law by convicting people on un-presented charges, it is like saying: "The law does not apply to us." This shows that the state is not ruled by law, but is simply a facade. It loses its dignity, it loses the trust of the people. When the state itself "kidnaps" its citizens without respecting its own laws, it is a sign of deep ruin.
* Trust in the State? What is that? How can a person believe in a system that can send you to prison without raising a charge against you for it? Without giving you a chance to defend yourself? Without telling you exactly what you did? This destroys faith. When "justice" is like a muddy puddle in which you can sink for no reason, then people are afraid. They feel insecure. Because today it is Emil, tomorrow it could be anyone else.
Emil's case is like a warning light burning brightly in the darkness. It shows us that when a person can be kidnapped and imprisoned by the state itself, without any real legal basis, then we have reached the bottom of the sludge. Then we are talking not just about mistakes, but about a complete absence of justice and a deep crisis in the very essence of statehood. Then the only goal is not to respect the law, but to fulfill some invisible "order", regardless of the cost to human life and the principles on which our society is supposedly based.
137m
When justice is not justice but the activity of a cartel and is managed by a cartel, and one of the main corrupt figures is Martin the Notary, what does this cause?
This book is a story about Emil Milev – a man whose life was stolen by a system that is called upon to protect him. On March 12, 2010, Emil's life turned upside down forever. A robbery in Sofia became the reason for what years later would turn into a judicial farce, into a real state kidnapping.
In 2015, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria brought charges against Emil for complicity in this robbery. The indictment is specific, describing clear actions: finding a stolen car, transporting perpetrators, threat with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle against the victim Bozhilov, taking a bag with money. The scenario of the case is clear.
The first instance – the Specialized Criminal Court – acquitted Emil in 2018. Hope flickered. But it quickly went out. The prosecution appealed. The case went up the ladder of the judicial system, reaching the Appellate Specialized Court (case No. 102/2018) and the Supreme Court of Cassation (case No. 1018/2019).
Here the horror begins. Instead of examining the original charge, these courts did something unthinkable: they convicted Emil on un-presented charges. New "factual situations" appeared, fabricated by the judges themselves, which had nothing to do with the indictment. Suddenly, Emil is "guilty" of the actions of people who were not part of the case, of threats against unknown persons, of events that were never the subject of the accusation against him.
This book is not just a story about an unjust conviction. It is a chronicle of a judicial arbitrariness that deprives a man of his basic right – the right to a fair trial and the right to liberty. Emil's conviction on charges for which he had no opportunity to defend himself represents a brutal violation of the principle of identity between accusation and verdict.
In Emil's eyes, the state turns into his abductor. He feels kidnapped and tortured – not with physical torture, but with the cruelty of a system that has lost its morality and its law. This is a story of the complete collapse of trust in the state and justice, when the judges who should be the guardians of the law (like judges Galya Georgieva, Magdalena Lazarova, Emiliya Petkova from the Appellate Court and Keti Markova, Milena Paneva, Blaga Ivanova from the Supreme Court of Cassation), instead act as part of a "cartel" for "magistrate orders".
The case of Emil Milev is just one, but it is a mirror of thousands of ruined destinies and families who suffered in a similar way during the years of existence of the Specialized Court and phenomena like "clubs" for magistrates. It is a living example of how the darkness of corruption and lawlessness can possess entire institutions, turning justice into a farce.
This book is a cry for help – not only for Emil, but for all those whose destinies have been crushed by similar arbitrariness. It is a reminder that when people are kidnapped through "justice" and thrown into prison without any legal basis, this is the bottom of the sludge into which a state can sink. And that it is time to seek justice before the darkness consumes everything.
138m
"The Murder of Martin Bozhanov – The Notary" is a book about the darkness behind the scenes of Bulgarian justice – where the law turns into a weapon of the cartel, and the court into an instrument for revenge and control.
This is the personal story of Emil Milev – a man whose life was stolen through an arbitrary conviction on un-presented charges. Instead of being protected, he became a victim of a system in which magistrates and prosecutors serve behind-the-scenes interests. The judges, who are supposed to guard the law, fabricate new "facts" and throw him into prison for acts that were never part of the accusation.
The murder of Martin Bozhanov – The Notary, is not just a criminal event. It is a symbol of the cracks in the entire system, in which corruption, "magistrate orders" and judicial "clubs" destroy the destinies of people and their families. Emil Milev is one of them – but his story reveals not just a personal tragedy, but a model of state arbitrariness.
This book is not written for corrupt judges, prosecutors or politicians. It is written for the honest people who feel the truth, but here they will see it eye to eye – through the words of a man who was kidnapped by his own state.
"The Murder of the Notary" is a metaphor and a warning: when justice turns into a cartel, the state loses its morality, and society loses its freedom.
139m
"The Murder of Martin Bozhanov – The Notary" is a book about the darkness behind the scenes of Bulgarian justice – where the law turns into a weapon of the cartel, and the court into an instrument for revenge and control.
This is the personal story of Emil Milev – a man whose life was stolen through an arbitrary conviction on un-presented charges. Instead of being protected, he became a victim of a system in which magistrates and prosecutors serve behind-the-scenes interests. The judges, who are supposed to guard the law, fabricate new "facts" and throw him into prison for acts that were never part of the accusation.
The murder of Martin Bozhanov – The Notary, is not just a criminal event. It is a symbol of the cracks in the entire system, in which corruption, "magistrate orders" and judicial "clubs" destroy the destinies of people and their families. Emil Milev is one of them – but his story reveals not just a personal tragedy, but a model of state arbitrariness.
This book is not written for corrupt judges, prosecutors or politicians. It is written for the honest people who feel the truth, but here they will see it eye to eye – through the words of a man who was kidnapped by his own state.
"The Murder of the Notary" is a metaphor and a warning: when justice turns into a cartel, the state loses its morality, and society loses its freedom.
141m
I turn to my friends – to everyone who helped me and who contributed to me writing this book. I greet you! Be healthy, happy, successful, strong on your way. I wish you that everything you dream of comes true.
I greet my people. I also greet my children, who went through all this – even to a greater extent than me. They suffer. My children suffer.
May God forgive me for what they caused me, and through me it collapsed upon them. Because I am a father, and without guilt I caused them pain and suffering. They deprived them of parental care when they detained me in prison without an accusation. They kidnapped me, and my children bear the weight of this injustice.
About my wife I do not want to say anything. And she wants nothing – maybe only cigarettes. The cartel destroyed our relationship. She could not take it, she left with another man, she started drinking. This is what the cartel does. And I was left without a wife – the woman I loved more than anything. But I no longer have her. I am left with my two children.
I am also left with the friends who did not abandon me. And a friend with whom I always talked for a long time – greetings to you, bright girl. My beautiful bright loved girl.
I love you very, very much.
I greet everyone who helped me write this book. I wish you success and strength on the way, never give up. May the force be with you. May the light, the sun, the water and the earth protect you. Be healthy and happy – you and your families.
Thank you for helping me expose human evil.
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The Murder of Martin Bozhanov – The Notary
is more than a story about a crime and its shadows. This is a book about broken trust, about shattered families and about a state that kidnaps its own citizens through "justice" turned into an instrument of the cartel.
Emil Milev is convicted not for the crime the prosecution accuses him of, but for invented "facts" that appeared only in the verdict. Acquitted by the first instance, he was later thrown into prison on un-presented charges – deprived of his right to a defense and of his liberty. This is not a judicial process, but a state kidnapping.
This book is not written for corrupt judges, prosecutors or politicians. It is written for honest and good people – for those who know that something in this country is deeply wrong. From its pages you will hear the voice of a man who went through the hell of judicial arbitrariness and whose children and loved ones pay the highest price.
"The Murder of the Notary" is a symbol – a symbol of the system in which the mafia and the state merge. But this book is both a cry for truth and a call for justice, before the darkness consumes everything.
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