Bulgaria's Interior, Judiciary Draw Daggers Yet Again

Interior MInister Tsvetanov (right) shown here with PM Borisov has clashed anew with the judiciary accusing the magistrates of helping organized crime. Photo by BGNES

The ongoing war between Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and the judiciary saw new bloody clashes in the wake of a court ruling to release from jail ex undercover agent Aleksei Petrov, aka "The Octopus" or "The Tractor".

"Bulgaria's judicial system serves organized crime, and the case with Aleksei Petrov is new evidence for that," Interior Minister Tsvetanov stated Thursday in Varna.

Petrov, a former agent of the Bulgarian State National Security Agency DANS, was arrested in a much advertised special police operation "Octopus" in February 2008 on numerous charges of heading an organized crime group, racketeering, organizing prostitution rings, among others.

Over the next few months, however, the courts gradually released all of Petrov's suspected accomplices, and shattered one by one the accusations of the prosecutors claiming their evidence was weak. This enraged Interior Minister Tsvetanov who saw the gradually saw the charges against Petrov dwindle. Finally, on Tuesday, Petrov was released from jail, though he was still left in house arrest.

Speaking in Varna on Thursday, the Interior head declared that the police in Bulgaria worked about as well as the police authorities in other EU states but the major difference in Bulgaria's situation lied with the judiciary.

"The Bulgarian courts release suspects because of illness or other bad conditions, while in the other EU member states the criminals get swift and just sentences," Tsvetanov said.

His reinvigorated criticism spurred instant strong reactions on part of several representatives of the judiciary.

The Sofia Administrative Court issued immediately a statement signed by its chair Veselin Pengezov protesting against "the attempts to pressure and make the public believe that decisions and rulings of the magistrates in the court have been influenced by factors not related to the law and the evidence presented in each individual case."

"In an European state with a rule of law what Bulgaria claims to be, statements on part of the Interior Minister that "the judges are subjected to great temptations" and "when banknotes rustle, things change their direction" are unacceptable. The court works on the basis of legal evidence. It does not care for expressions such as "key figures" or colorful names of police operations and nicknames of suspects," says the head of the Sofia Administrative Court, which led Aleksei Petrov go home.

The statement further suggests that allegations of the minister about potential corruption among the magistrates has negative influence on the Bulgarian citizens, and on the country's international image, and urges the Interior to investigate any cases of bribery, if those are known.

"If Tsvetanov's words are true, how come there are no investigations against the judges who are part of the organized crime," asked Miroslava Todorova, head of the Union of Judges in Bulgaria, and a judge from the Sofia City Court in response to the minister's accusations.

She announced that her Union is preparing a request for an international examination of the independence of the Bulgarian courts but refused to reveal details saying more information will be available in the coming days.

Thursday's renewed clashes between Tsvetanov and the judiciary come a day after the Parliament, with the votes of the ruling party GERB and its backers from Ataka, approved at first reading legislation to set up a special anti-mafia tribunal.

According to PM Borisov and his deputy Tsvetanov, the special court will help crack down on corruption and organized crime. The opposition and critics in general have slammed the project as the private court of the Interior Ministry that will be used for political persecution.

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