Bulgarian Interior Minister Reiterates Critics towards Court

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov does not believe the country's judicial system is reaching the EU standards. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's judicial system does not correspond to the EU standards, Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said commenting on the acquittal of The Marguin Brothers, reputed to be the biggest mafia bosses in Bulgaria.

“Convicting only the “small fish” from the organized crime group is supposed to prove to the EU that we have taken up actions against organized crime. But the true organizers of the group were declared innocent,” Minister Tsvetanov said before the Bulgarian private TV channel bTV on Wednesday.

Krasimir and Nikolay Marinov, aka The Marguin Brothers, were charged with plotting three murders, but the Sofia City Court acquitted them on Monday.

The magistrates, however, ruled that there has been a criminal group dealing with the three murders for hire and issued guilty verdicts for the other 4 defendants.

In Tsvetanov's words, Nikolay Marinov's lawyer, Lyudmil Rangelov, has demonstrated “disrespect” for the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office, by claiming the lack of proofs against his client was obvious.

On Tuesday, Rangelov said in an interview for the TV channel bTV that the Prosecutors' motives to charge Marinovi with plotting three murders looked childish and naive.

“Our goal is to bring the indictments as soon as we finish an operation,” the Minister said, pointing out the positive results from “The Impudent” operation.

The Bulgarian Interior Minister also announced that indictments will be brought soon against the former Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev, who was charged with bribery and was recently released on a BGN 15 000 bail.