Bulgaria Ex Anti-Corruption Chair Accused of Concealing Files

The RZS leader, Yane Yanev, adamantly opposes the sealing of his office, after his removal as Chair of Bulgaria's parliamentary anti-Corruption Committee. He invited media today to show them files are missing from the shelves. Photo by BGNES

The new Chair of Bulgaria's parliamentary anti-Corruption Committee, Dimo Gyaurov, accused Friday his predecessor, Yane Yanev, of concealing files in his office.

Yanev was removed from the post after the parliamentary group of his Order, Law and Justice (RZS) party fell apart a week ago, when one of its members, Mario Tagarinski, announced he is leaving it. Tagarisnki's move brought the number of the group members down to 10 while the new parliament code postulates that 10 MPs from one party is the minimum to form a group.

Following Yanev's removal, the office of the anti-Corruption Committee was sealed and reopened Friday to perform an official handing of the documentation as ordered by the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva.

Yanev adamantly opposes the sealing of his office, calling it unprecedented and demands explanations. He also accuses the new Committee of removing and concealing part of the documentation and threatens prosecution.

“These people are not acting as politicians in a democratic country, but as militia complying with the orders of Communist party secretaries. But they can take the files and not my memory. I remember the documentation and demand its reappearance,” Yanev is quoted as saying.

According to the RZS leader, the missing files involve the leader of the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), Ahmed Dogan, former Tsar and Prime Minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, and another former PM and now co-Chair of the rightist Blue Coalition, Ivan Kostov.

Yanev successor Gyaurov, who is from Kostov's party, says Yanev is no longer chair of the anti-Corruption Committee and does not have the authority to handle the documentation. He strongly criticized Yanev's singlehanded actions in dealing with alleged corruption practices and his frequent media appearances.

Yanev blames Bulgaria PM Borisov and President Georgi Parvanov for causing the ‘Tagarinski’ case and thus the collapse of the RZS party.

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