The Sofia City Court postponed Wednesday the trial against the former Defense Minister from the Three-Way Coalition cabinet, Nikolay Tsonev, on bribing charges.

Tsonev was supposed to face the magistrates on accusations that together with Sofia City Court judge Petar Santirov and financial consultant Tencho Popov he attempted to offer a bribe to investigator, Petyo Petrov, to forge evidence that would lead to a positive outcome of an investigation against him.

In the latest legal situation reminding a sitcom, the trial had to be postponed because at the same time the ex Minister was to appear in a different courtroom before military magistrates over 4 deals signed about 10 years ago, during his term as Head of the Defense Ministry's Social Agency for the supply of military aircraft equipment.

The first case was scheduled for 9 am and the second for 10:30 am forcing Tsonev and his defense council to run from one courtroom to another attempting to explain to the two magistrates' teams the non-sense situation they have been placed into.

At the end the City Court ruled to reschedule the session for November 20th.

The arrest of Nikolay Tsonev on April 1, which was taped and broadcast by the Interior Ministry, spurred a public outrage over police brutality as masked police officers made him kneel to the ground while Deputy Sofia Prosecutor Roman Vasilev called him "a criminal".

The footage of Tsonev's arrest released by the Interior Ministry showed Roman Vasilev telling the former minister, "For me, you are a criminal! As a criminal, kneel down on the floor!", while he was being handcuffed by masked policemen.

The former Defense Minister has decided to sue the Bulgarian state in Strasbourg, complaining of "humiliating treatment" by the police.