Fair sentences and no option for reducing sentences for serious crimes when the perpetrator confesses – such were the demands raised by a protest organized in front of the National Assembly building by friends and relatives of victims of serious crimes.

The legal affairs committee of the National Assembly is to discuss, at first reading, amendments to the criminal procedure code, connected with an expedited judicial enquiry. Proposals for dropping the option for perpetrators of serious crimes like murder or rape to be given lighter sentences if they confess were submitted by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and VMRO. GERB party is proposing that lawcourts are entitled to have their say on whether, and by how much sentences can be reduced if there is a confession.