Bulgaria Raises Embezzlement Charges against 2 Ethnic Turk MPs

Domestic | December 7, 2009, Monday // 13:30|  views

Gyunay Sefer (R) and Mithat Tabakov (L) have agreed to be stripped of their immunity as part of a corruption investigation. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged with embezzlement two members of parliament from the ethnic Turkish party, who gave up their immunity from prosecution two weeks ago.

Gyunay Sefer and Mithat Tabakov were elected on the ticket of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms in the town of Silistra.

The charges raised against Gyunay Sefer concern a major fraud, involving forged documents, while those against Tabakov have been defined as malfeasance in office and corruption, prosecutors said.

Before they entered parliament, Tabakov was mayor of the northeastern town of Dulovo, while Sefer – municipal councilor there.

The previous Socialist-led government, in which the ethnic Turkish party was a junior partner, has been lately 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.

Last month 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.

Bulgaria's new center-right government, which swept the elections in July, is struggling to shake off the country's reputation for rampant corruption and crime, and has pledged to step up the fight against graft.

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Tags: DPS, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, immunity, ethnic Turkish, Gyunay Sefer, Mithat Tabakov

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