Bulgaria Axes 2nd Probe in Ethnic Turkish Politician's Death

Ahmed Emin's body was found in the afternoon of October 17, 2008, in the Sofia quarter of Boyana, in the notorious estate, allegedly belonging to ethnic Turkish party leader, Ahmed Dogan. File Photo

The Prosecutor's Office terminated the investigation and closed the case in the death of Ahmed Emin, one of the major figures of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS.

The information was reported Wednesday by the spokesperson of Sofia District Prosecutor's Office, Rusi Aleksiev, cited by the Bulgarian "Trud" (Labor) daily.

According to the prosecutors, the second probe also failed to establish any evidence that a crime has been committed.

As early as March, they informed that 20 new witnesses have been questioned, but evidence that Emin had been killed or pushed to commit suicide has not been discovered. The expert check of the computer of Chief of Staff of the DPS leader, Ahmed Dogan, also failed to yield any new evidence.

Emin's body was found in the afternoon of October 17, 2008, in the Sofia quarter of Boyana, in the notorious estate, allegedly belonging to Dogan. Emin was found shot with his own gun, however, Emin's father, the mayor of Emin's native village of Kozitsa, Hassan Hayrula, and other people who knew him closely did not agree with the official suicide version.

Emin was buried on October 19 in his native village of Kozitsa, in the municipality of Popovo. The entire leadership of the DSP party and all Ministers from the DSP quota in the ruling coalition arrived for the funeral. The one person missing was the party leader Ahmed Dogan.

In mid-April 2009, the Prosecutor's Office in Sofia officially closed the investigation into Emin's death, concluding that he committed suicide.

After questioning 85 people and having 20 experts working to find new evidence, suicide was decided to be the official version, even though Emin was found not to be under psychological stress or drunk before he took his own life.

The Prosecutor's Office refused to make Emin's suicide note, addressed to the DPS leader, Ahmed Dogan, and to his family, available for public scrutiny, saying that it was up to people close to Emin to decide whether they want it or not.

In the spring of 2010, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, declared the investigation had been marred by serious procedural blunders and sloppiness and the case was reopened.

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