Bulgaria PM: Ethnic Turkish Leader Covered Up All Traces

Earlier this year, when the three-way Socialist coalition, was still in office, Dogan scandalously declared himself to be the back seat ruler of the country. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's prime minister has said it is impossible to strip the immunity from prosecution of ethnic Turkish leader Ahmed Dogan as he has been careful not to leave evidence of his allegedly controversial deals.

“He has not signed a single document. Bulgaria is a country of the rule of law and charges can be raised only based on evidence,” Boyko Borisov said on Friday, taking up a journalist question.

The statement came hours after Bulgarian prosecutors asked parliament to strip former Labour Minister Emilia Maslarova of her immunity from prosecution so that they can investigate her for large-scale embezzlement.

The previous government, in which Ahmed Dogan party was a junior coalition partner, has been hit by a series of corruption scandals. Former prime minister Sergey Stanishev has been accused of losing classified reports on crime, while ex-farm minister Valeri Tsvetanov has been charged with abuse of power.

Asked whether the ethnic Turkish leader can be the next in line, Borisov said there is no order, which the government is following in its probes, but praised Dogan for not provoking him with verbal attacks and criticism like former Socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev.

Yet Ahmed Dogan is known for a few notorious statements, including the most famous one in 2005, in which he claimed that every political party in Bulgaria used "rings of firms" to fund its activities.

Earlier this year, when the three-way Socialist coalition, was still in office, Dogan scandalously declared himself to be the back seat ruler of the country.