Inmate: Ex Bulgarian VP Asked for Money to Grant Pardons

Vice President Angel Marin has ended up mired in a scandal concerning the legality of and the motives behind the pardons granted by him. Photo by BGNES

Former Bulgarian Vice President has asked USD 10 000 to grant a pardon to a felon, according to inmate H. V. who is jailed in the prison in the capital Sofia.

The prisoner had alerted in a letter the temporary inquiry parliamentary committee probing now former President, Georgi Parvanov, and his Deputy Marin in their granting pardons to felons, forgiving State-owed debt and granting Bulgarian citizenship between 2002 and 2012, according to a publication of the Bulgarian Trud (Labor) daily.

The ad-hoc committee, chaired by Yane Yanev, leader of the marginal, conservative Order, Law and Justice Party (RZS), was established despite its questionable capacity to inspect activities of the head of state, who is elected directly by the people.

In the letter, H. V. claims that his father knew Marin since he was also an ex-army officer and requested to have a meeting with the VP. At this meeting, Marin had asked for USD 10 000 for Parvanov and himself.

"The transfer of money can be proven by a check of bank accounts of my father. The amount was wired to a company linked to Marin," the prisoner writes. The father passed away in 2003.

Meanwhile, the Chief of the Implementing Punishments Directorate, Mitko Dimitrov, told the Committee that Marin signed decrees for granting partial or full pardons to 77 convicts without them serving any jail time. 13 of them have returned to prison later for committing the same or other serious crimes.

Yanev stated that he has information that the former VP had granted pardons despite the motivated refusals on the part of the Pardons Commission or of Prison Wardens.

During his two terms as VP, Marin had pardoned 533 felons, some convicted for grave crimes such as murder and rape.

In other developments, it also emerged that Parvanov failed to issue a decree for Marin's second term appointment, which was confirmed on February 7 in an official letter sent by the new administration of President, Rosen Plevneliev.

The Supreme Administrative Court (VAS), however, gave up on its initial plan to refer the case of the missing presidential decree to the KS.

VAS also ruled that there was no clash between the law and the Constitution in the case of the revoked naturalization of Konstantin Tsiganov, alleged Russian mafia thug sought by the Interpol.

VAS further declared that the decrees issued by the President and the Vice President were not subject to Court control.

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