Bulgaria Court Records Prove Petrov Never Was Secret Agent

Aleksei Petrov, a former security agency employee, was never an undercover agent, according to the records of Sofia City Court. Photo by BGNES

Aleksei Petrov, who is behind bars awaiting trial on multiple charges, and who has been labeled as a DANS spy, is not and never was a secret agent.

Georgi Kolev, Chair of the Sofia City Court (SCC), has announced this conclusion in a court report covering the past year.

Under Bulgarian law, every agent must enter into an agreement with the prosecutors' office, which defines the criminal acts that may be committed during any mission, for which the agent would not be held legally liable.

Over 50 legal permits for the use of undercover agents were approved by SCC in 2009. Kolev pointed out that almost all such requests by the prosecution or special services go through him. However, according to the records, Aleksei Petrov had never been such an undercover agent

He said he could not tell how many of these clandestine actions resulted in a prosecution, firstly because additional sources of evidence were required for conviction, and secondly, because no such statistics were kept.

The annual report also reveals that, of the 12 significant cases that were monitored by the European Union, five had resulted in convictions. A further 24 such cases are being scrutinized.

Kolev also commented on the new delay of the SAPARD funds trial of Mario Nikolov and Lyudmil Stoykov, where the absence of a jury member halted proceedings on Monday.

He said that there was no problem that the juror was an employee of the Interior Ministry, unless she had internal knowledge concerning the case, and that it was not unusual to have to postpone a trial because of an authorized absence from court of a jury member.

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