Bulgarian Prosecution Hints Spying Breaches Begun with GERB

Society | April 16, 2013, Tuesday // 12:37|  views

Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov refuses to comment on political statements that followed the announcement of the results of the probe in Bulgaria's latest "Watergate" scandal. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor, Sotir Tsatsarov, indirectly admitted the "spying" vehicles have been purchased and used after 2009 when the centrist GERB party took office.

Speaking at a briefing Tuesday, Tsatsarov, cited by the Bulgarian National Radio, said the charges have been aligned with the initial date when the technology has been in use, implying it was under the rule of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, and its Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

The expert panel to attempt to restore deleted recordings will be assigned with the task on Wednesday or Thursday at the latest, but the deadline remains unknown, according to the Chief Prosecutor. The answer to the question if senior politicians and top business people have been illegally wiretapped depends on the outcome of the experts' work and their success in retrieving the deleted information.

Tsatsarov firmly refused to comment on political statements that followed the announcement of the results of the probe in Bulgaria's latest "Watergate" scandal. He, however, said he was not at all surprised by the contradictory interpretations coming from different formations.

One day earlier, the prosecuting authority reported it has uncovered a series of violations at Bulgaria's Interior Ministry concerning unregulated wiretapping.

A team of ten prosecutors started an inspection of the procedures for applying special surveillance devices on March 29.

The main conclusion of the probe is that the Interior Ministry created possibilities for illegal wiretapping, mediapool.bg reports.

Speaking Monday at a press conference, the Chief Prosecutor made clear that the probe had revealed numerous violations related to the deployment of surveillance equipment and the oversight of such operations.

Tsatsarov informed that the inspection had detected malfeasance in office and abuse of wiretapping equipment.

He said that pre-trial proceedings had been opened against three directors at the Specialized Directorate Technical Operations of the Interior Ministry and one employee of the unit.

Tsatsarov also explained that important information related to the case had been deleted in a bid to sabotage the probe, adding that the prosecutors would try to recover the lost data.

On March 28, Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), submitted a tip-off to Tsatsarov about illegal wiretapping of politicians, businessmen and magistrates which had taken place during Tsvetan Tsvetanov's term in office as Interior Minister.

On the following day, a team of prosecutors headed by Sofia City Prosecutor Nikolay Kokinov and his Deputy Roman Vasilev was tasked with the probe at the Interior Ministry.

Tsvetanov continues to deny any involvement in the illegal spying amidst calls from the opposition to step down and leave politics for good.

The head of the special surveillance unit of Bulgaria's police, together with a director from the unit, were temporarily released from duty until the end of investigations against them. 

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Tags: Sotir Tsatsarov, Chief Prosecutor, interior ministry, wiretapping, Sergey Stanishev, Bulgarian Socialist Party, Nikolay Kokinov, Roman Vassilev, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, GERB

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