Bulgaria Ex Defense Minister Left behind Bars

Nikolay Tsonev (pictured) is the latest in a line of former Bulgarian ministers charged with abuse of power and fraud, following the arrival in power of a new right-wing government. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s former Defense Minister, Nikolay Tsonev, and his two accomplices, including a suspended judge, will remain jailed over an attempt to bribe an investigator.

Sofia Appellate Court ruled on Thursday to keep behind bars Tsonev, financial consultant Tencho Popov, and Petar Santirov, claiming that if released on bail the three men could influence the summoned witnesses.

The case entered the Appellate Court after the defendants' lawyers protested Sofia City Court ruling to keep the three behind bars.

According to Vassil Vassilev, lawyer of former Minister Tsonev, the huge public interest in the trial has outweighed the "innocent until proven guilty" presumption.

The three men were busted on April 1 over an attempt to bribe a Sofia investigator named Petyo Petrov in order to obstruct the Tsonev’s triаl for abuses he allegedly committed during his term as Defense Minister in 2008-2009.

The defendants face up to ten years in jail and a fine of up to BGN 15 000 each over attempting to bribe a senior magistrate. Thursday's hearing was closed to the public because part of the evidence was collected using special surveillance devices.

Nikolay Tsonev is facing several investigations and charges but the one in question referred to a public procurement contract of the Defense Ministry for the construction of an optic cable called Strandzha 2, worth BGN 120 M. According to Deputy Chief Prosecutor Boyko Naydenov, the deal was not only detrimental to the state but made no sense at all as the Defense Ministry did not need the optic cable.

The investigation of the deal was started at the end of 2009 and has not been taken to court yet.

For three full weeks, the police followed the suspects in the bribery scheme, and detected several meetings among them managing to grasp important details about what exactly the investigator had been offered and what he was expected to do in exchange.

The police even delayed the special operation for two days because at the last minute the intermediaries started to haggle anew with the unnamed investigator. Eventually, the arrests were made as the investigator was summoned to a law office in order to receive a bribe installment of EUR 20 000.

Tencho Popov, former Secretary of the Finance Ministry and activist of the National Movement for Security and Prosperity of the former Tsar and PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg, was busted as he was handing the bribe money to the investigator.

Ex Finance Minister Nikolay Tsonev was arrested in the Military Hospital as he was being given a document certifying sickness so that he can skip an interrogation scheduled for the next week.

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