Also acquitted was Asen Petrov, who has a criminal record. They were accused of killing Zivkov and attempting to kill several other persons in a shooting in which three persons were wounded.
The prosecution asked for lifetime imprisonment for Moze. Under Bulgarian law, the murder of a police office is punishable with a prison sentence ranging from 20 years to life.
Moze's attorney said the accusations were founded on invalid evidence and that an analysis of the evidence showed his client was not in the restaurant in which the shooting took place and was therefore innocent.
The attorney also asked the court to turn down a civil action in which Zivkov's family asked that Moze pay 130,000 lev in damages.
Before sentencing, Moze said he was innocent and had nothing to do with the crime he was accused of.
The 28-year-old cartoon artist from Zagreb was arrested on the Bulgarian-Serbian border in early September 2004 after the Bulgarian police issued a warrant for 12 Croatian citizens suspected of a series of mob killings. They were charged with being members of a gang headed by Robert Matanic and committing a series of contract killings in Sofia.
However, it was soon established that some said to be on the arrest warrant had never left Croatia.
Shortly after being arrested, Moze wrote to the Croatian Embassy complaining about the treatment in the Bulgarian prison. Thanks to his attorney, a new investigation was launched.