Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor: Nationalist Leader Siderov May be Arrested for Hooliganism

Domestic | July 11, 2013, Thursday // 13:34|  views

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov, photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsasarov has said that the Constitution gives the authorities the right to arrest Volen Siderov, leader of nationalist party Ataka, if he commits acts of hooliganism.

"Volen Siderov knows very well what his mistake is," Tsatsarov told journalists Thursday, as cited by the Focus news agency.

He noted that it was not the prosecuting authority but the parliamentary rules of procedure which determined how one was to behave in Parliament, reminding of Siderov's attempt to enter Parliament with a legally owned weapon and a police baton.

Tsatsarov drew attention to Articles 69 and 70 of the Constitution postulating the non-liability and inviolability of members of parliament.

"I have ordered the Interior Minister to notify me immediately in cases of behavior which can be defined as hooliganism, which is a grave crime. We will not play games with MP immunity or launching criminal prosecution. The Constitution allows on-the-spot arrests of MPs in cases of grave crimes," Tsatsarov said, assuring that Siderov would be arrested for such acts. After which the Parliament Chair would be notified and the Parliament would be given the say.

On July 2, the leader of nationalist party Ataka asked Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov and Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev to come up with an official response regarding the calls for stripping him of his parliamentary immunity.

"Over the past few weeks, political parties, which failed at the parliamentary elections, have been trying to compensate for their political impotence with attacks and provocations against me, Volen Siderov, and Ataka," he stated, hinting at the June 28 letter of the right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party asking Tsatsarov to strip Siderov of his MP immunity over his threats about civilian arrests of protesters.

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Tags: Sotir Tsatsarov, Chief Prosecutor, nationalist leader, nationalist party Ataka, Interior Minister, Tsvetlin Yovchev Yovchev, hooliganism, protests

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