Appellate Court Acquits Bulgaria's Ex Deputy Interior Minister

The Sofia Appellate Court acquitted former Bulgarian Deputy Interior Minister Rail Mustafa (l) and issued a 2.5 years suspended sentence for businessman Rosen Marinov (r). Photo by BGNES

The Sofia Appellate Court confirmed Monday the not-guilty verdict of former Deputy Interior Minister, Raif Mustafa, on bribery charges.

The other defendant – businessman, Rosen Marinov received a 2.5 years suspended sentence and a fine of BGN 5 000.

At the end of June, the lower instance – the Sofia City Court acquitted both, after the Prosecution's Office has asked for 10 years imprisonment for each.

The two were charged with offering a bribe to the former Head of Bulgaria's Fishing Agency, Marin Dimitrov, to withdraw a claim submitted to the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) with which Dimitrov wanted to stop a public tender won by Marinov.

Rosen Marinov, owner of the "Auto Engineering" company, won a public tender for the supply of cutters to the Fishing Agency before the time Dimitrov became its director. Upon being assigned to the post, the latter ordered a halt on all public tenders over lack of financing. Marinov then appealed before the Commission for Competition Protection (KZD) and won. Dimitrov, on his turn, appealed the KZD decision with VAS.

Mustafa became involved in the affair as an intermediary between the 2 because he knew both Marinov and Dimitrov. The Deputy Interior Minister, who was part of the previous Three-Way Coalition cabinet on the ticket of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party, was an acquittance of the Fishing Agency Director from the time they worked together in the police department in the southern city of Kardzhali. Because of his ties, Mustafa became the person offering Dimitrov the bribe.

Rosen Marinov was arrested in June 2009 in his offices and spent time in jail before being released on bail. Mustafa resigned as Deputy Interior Minister, but was never arrested.

The Prosecutor accuses Mustafa of offering Dimitrov to withdraw his claim against the cutters' order in exchange for BGN 50 000. He had been able to arrange a meeting between the 2 parties during which the businessman (Marinov) increased the bribe offer to BGN 100 000.

The conclusion of the graphology expertise of the notes with the bribe amount that were, allegedly, handed by the defendants to the Fishing Agency Head, said it was "possible" that the text has been written by Mustafa.

After the first acquittal, the Prosecutor Plamen Georgiev said that Marinov is "a person with very difficult corruption attitude," and declared the rule "absurd," for which he later apologized to the magistrates.

The Monday trial was held behind closed doors over new proof submitted by the prosecution. Unofficial reports say the acquittal, however, was based on lack of enough evidence on Mustafa's involvement in the bribery attempt. The official motives of the magistrates will be announced in a month.

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