6 000 Bulgarians Wiretapped in 2010

A report of the Parliamentary Subcommittee for control of special surveillance devices shows a significant increase in their use in 2010. File photo

Nearly 6 000 people in Bulgaria have been spied on with special surveillance devices (SRS) in 2010, according to report of the Parliamentary Subcommittee for SRS control.

The report had been presented Wednesday to the Legal Committee, the Bulgarian daily Standard writes Thursday.

The exact number is reported at 5 763 while the warrants for wiretapping and following are 15 866.

The author of the report is the now former Subcommittee Chair, Yavor Notev, from the far-right, nationalist Ataka party. The current rotational chair is Hristo Biserov from the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS.

According to the report, Interior Minister, Tsvetanov Tsvetanov, made 142 SRS requests, through which 3 400 pieces of evidence have been collected. There are only 134 rejected requests for SRS use in 2010.

Deputy Interior Minister, Veselin Vuchkov, admits there is a jump in 2010 in the number of such requests, saying the report demonstrates the need of increased control over those who have rights to operate with SRS.

Notev further informed the 50 surprise probes in a number of Courts across the country have not revealed any violations of the SRS Use Act.

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