Ex Bulgarian PM: My Trial Will Be Political Farce

Socialist leader Stanishev speaking in front of supporters in Razgrad. Photo by Darik Radio

Leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and former Bulgarian PM Sergey Stanishev predicted that he is going to face legal charges on the investigation raised against him for leaking a classified report.

According to Stanishev, the sole ground of trial he is about to face is political and not legal.

“You're asking “why”? Because they must stage a show. Because it is the policy of the present government that everyone who opposes must be hit and crushed one way or another, no matter whether he's from the BSP or the President himself,” Stanishev further elaborated.

The leader of the socialists voiced those concerns late Sunday on a meeting with local BSP supporters in the Bulgarian north-east town of Razgrad, reports Darik Radio.

A special meeting of the Socialist Party's Executive Bureau has been called Monday in Razgrad. Similar sittings are planned for each regional center in the country in a campaign on the part of the Socialists to reach out to their supporters and get to know their problems first-hand.

Since the July 2009 elections, which it lost to the current ruling center-right GERB party, the Bulgarian Socialist Party has faced record low public support and debilitating internal skirmishes.

In October 2009 an investigation started on suspicion that Stanishev illegally concealed a classified report from the scandal-ridden State National Security Agency DANS that specified individuals with destructive influence on the functioning of state institutions. The former PM is also being investigated for providing cover for criminal groups, money laundering, abuse of funds and mismanaging the State Agency for National Security.

In November 2009, the ex PM gave up his immunity as a Member of the Parliament, which allowed the beginning of a probe against him for alleged leaks of classified information.

End of May it was reported that the filing of formal charges against Stanishev is imminent.

Stanishev has repeatedly stated that he is ready to face the charges and has consistently dismissed them as “politically motivated” and expressing the oppressive nature of the current GERB government.

In Razgrad he also said that the hits against BSP representatives in local authorities have the aim to ensure GERB's success in next year's local elections. At the same time he castigated the government's “negligence” for overcoming the economic and financial crisis and made a bleak prognosis for the country's economic outlook.

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