Bulgarian President Vows to Apologize if Anti-Mafia Head Is Falsely Accused

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has promised to apologize to former anti-mafia unit director Stanimir Florov if the latter turns out to be unjustly accused of large-scale bribery.

Plevneliev said that he would “personally invite Florov to the President’s Palace” and apologize to him if the accusations are proven to be wrong.

“And I hope other people would do the same,” he told reporters.

The President reiterated that he disproved of mudslinging during an election campaign.

On Friday, the Bulgarian police's anti-organized crime unit head Stanimir Florov was temporarily released from duties pending the outcome of the investigation against him.

The order had been signed by caretaker Interior Minister, Petya Parvanova, the Ministry's press office informed Friday evening. It was Plevneliev who had urged Parvanova to dismiss the official.

Earlier in the day, Florov was charged with large-scale bribery by the country's prosecuting authority.

The charges came in the aftermath of reports that the Prosecutor's Office and a number of media had received leaked copies of what is claimed to be classified police documents implicating Florov in facilitating drug trafficking.

The alleged documents were identified as records of police investigations on Florov's suspected activities facilitating international drug trafficking in Bulgaria in the late 1990s and the 2000s.

In particular, the documents mentioned that Florov had been paid to provide cover up for Middle East drug dealers and for the illegal drug manufacturing in the so-called "Opitsvet" affair in 1997.

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