Key Bulgarian Judge Embarks on Deflating Wiretap Permit Statistics

Sofia City Court Chair Vladimira Yaneva has come up with an idea for easing social pressure over the number of wiretap permits. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Sofia City Court Chair Vladimira Yaneva will be invited to a meeting of the Bulgarian Parliamentary Subcommittee for Special Surveillance Devices Control next week to elaborate on her strategy for reducing the number of wiretap permits through maximum duration applications.

"Next week we shall invite Yaneva to a meeting at the Subcommittee to brief us on some issues of special surveillance devices (SRS)," socialist MP and rotating chair of the unit Mihail Mikov said on Friday, as cited by news portal Mediapool.

On Thursday it emerged that Yaneva had advised Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Konstantin Kazakov, head of the State Agency for Natonal Security (DANS) to make use of the maximum surveillance period of 2 months in applications to the court so as to deflate statistics.

Bulgarian legislation currently provides for a maximum period of 2 months per surveillance device with an option for extending the deadline up to 6 months.

The letter, which recommends the filing of applications for maximum periods, was revealed to have been sent two weeks ago and had been distributed by Tsvetanov to heads of the key units within the system of the Interior.

The letter also proposes listing the different surveillance methods required for one person in one application so as to reduce the number of SRS permits.

Yaneva bases her proposal on the fact that the number of wiretap permits" is a particularly sensitive issue in Bulgarian society".

If applied, the measure will only reduce the number of permits on paper because the documents will be issued per person, not per method.

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