Bulgaria Interior Minister Outraged by Courts over Drug Boss Sentence

Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetanov (right) pictured together with Chief Prosecutor Velchev. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has renewed his criticism of the country’s judiciary, this time over the case of a drug trafficker sentenced in Greece.

Tsvetanov gave a news conference Friday announcing the details of three special anti-drug operations carried out around the country overnight.

He focused mostly on the arrest of Ognyan Atanasov, who was arrested, and his home in the village of Topolnitsa near Petrich was raided by anti-mafia units. The police found 300 grams of amphetamine, EUR 55 000, USD 4 500, gold, luxury watches, 36 mobile phones, and about 100 SIM cards.

Tsvetanov explained that Ognyan Atanasov was sentenced to 18 years in prison for drug trafficking in Greece in 1995. However, he managed to escape from the prison there in 1998 and came back to Bulgaria.

Subsequently, he was arrested in Bulgaria but after confessing of having trafficked drugs in Greece, Atanasov made a deal with the Blagoevgrad District Court, which gave him a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of BGN 200. The Interior Minister said there had been three European arrest warrants for Atanasov.

“This is a disgrace and ruins the image of our country and our entire law-enforcement system. If things keep going the same way, I don’t see how Bulgaria can fulfill the commitments it made to the EU,” Tsvetanov declared slamming the Bulgarian judiciary again after being increasingly critical of the courts over certain verdicts in the last few weeks.

In addition to Atanasov, the anti-mafia cops in Blagoevgrad arrested five other men on charges of selling amphetamines and heroin.

Tsvetanov revealed details about two other police operations – the capturing of 73 kg of heroin near Stara Zagora, which was destined for Spain, with five men arrested; and the discovery of 40 kg of amphetamine in the village of Anton, in which three men were arrested.

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