Stanislav Stamenov of Bulgaria appears in the Wynberg Magistrates’ court, Cape Town, on 4 March 2026. He is wanted in Romania, where he has been sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for drug trafficking. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach) The Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town has ordered the release from custody of fugitive gym trainer Stanislav Stamenov, who has been held behind bars for about six weeks.
The order was made on Wednesday, 15 April 2026.
But Stamenov’s lawyer, William Booth, told Daily Maverick that by around 1pm on Thursday, he had not yet been freed. A contempt of court action was being considered on his behalf.
Stamenov, originally from Bulgaria, is wanted in Romania for drug trafficking and now faces potential extradition.
40-day limit
According to the European Convention on Extradition, a person’s detention should not exceed 40 days if an extradition request and relevant documents have not been received. This appears to have affected Stamenov’s case.
According to the high court order, a directive to extend Stamenov’s detention beyond 40 days, attributed to the magistrate in the lower court overseeing the matter, was “unlawful and set aside”.
On Thursday, the province’s National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed the high court order.
“We will study the judgment as soon as we receive it and decide on our way forward,” he said.
Police arrested Stamenov at the end of February, weeks after Daily Maverick revealed that the personal trainer – then offering his services at a Virgin Active gym in the upmarket Cape Town suburb of Constantia – was actually a convicted drug trafficker facing a prison sentence in Romania.
Virgin Active subsequently cut ties with him.
Following his arrest, Stamenov tried to apply for bail at the magistrates’ court in the Cape Town suburb of Wynberg.
During those proceedings, it emerged that the State was against his release.
Daily Maverick understands that Stamenov submitted that he had never tried to evade the police.
‘Porous borders’
An affidavit by a police officer stationed at the Interpol National Central Bureau in Pretoria, Sergeant Kabelo Seanago, was used to support the State’s stance.
Seanago’s affidavit alleged, “It is evident that the accused should not be a Permanent Residence holder in South Africa, due to the fact that Permanent Residency was obtained through misrepresentation.
“Mr Stamenov submitted a fraudulent supporting document when he applied for [a] Permanent Residence Permit.
“It is common knowledge that the borders surrounding South Africa are porous and susceptible to corruption.”
The affidavit added: “The Department of Home Affairs intends to request that the Minister withdraw the Permanent Residence of Mr Stamenov, due to the fact that he was convicted and sentenced and issued with [a] warrant of arrest by Romanian authorities when the Permanent Residence was granted.”
Stamenov is expected back in the magistrates’ court in Wynberg on Monday, 20 April, for the continuation of the case against him.
In January, Daily Maverick reported that Stamenov was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, the international police organisation’s highest-level alert for the provisional arrest of fugitives.
At the time, Stamenov was providing personal training at Constantia’s Virgin Active gym.
Still listed as wanted
On Thursday, 16 April, the red notice remained on Interpol’s website, suggesting that he is still considered to be a wanted fugitive.
Daily Maverick reported that the Romanian police website said that a court in Bucharest had issued a warrant against Stamenov for the execution of a 16-year jail sentence dating back to 2013 “for committing the offence of high-risk drug trafficking”.
/file/attachments/orphans/Stanislav-Stamenov-as-depicted-on-an-Interpol-red-notice-screegrabbed-on-23-January-2026_579206.jpg "Stanislav Stamenov as depicted on an Interpol Red Notice, screengrabbed on 23 January 2026. (Image: Supplied)")
During Stamenov’s bail application in the magistrates’ court in Wynberg, it emerged that he had been a personal trainer to Krasimir Kamenov, also originally from Bulgaria. Kamenov was murdered in May 2023.
He was shot dead along with his wife, Gergana, and two of their employees in his home in Constantia (the suburb where Stamenov offered personal training at the Virgin Active gym).
It was first reported in 2023 that Stamenov was probably in Cape Town.
When he was arrested at the end of February, it was at a residence in Evergreen Lane in Constantia.
The home belongs to the Kamenov Trust, which is linked to Kamenov.
Police have not announced any arrests for the Kamenov killings. DM