Tragedy Delays Snooping Case against Ex Bulgarian Top Cop

A collage of BGNES of former Bulgarian Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, and former Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov (left).

An expert's sudden dead has delayed the "illegal snooping" case against former Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

The Bulgarian "Trud" (Labor) daily writes Saturday that Prof Evegeniy Nikolov, who was the expert examining the notorious Chrysler Voyager, allegedly used by Tsvetanov and several subordinate to conduct mass unauthorized spying, has died in a traffic accident on July 17.

Nikolov was the Director of the National Lab for Computer Viruses at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BAS.

The Chrysler Voyager van was seized by the Prosecutor's Office for their probe in the anonymous tipoff of mass illegal spying on senior politicians, wealthy businessmen, and journalists, submitted by the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, and former PM, Sergey Stanishev.

The Professor was the only expert to have confirmed the vehicle has been, indeed, equipped with spying devices.

He died just one month after Tsvetanov was legally charged with allowing unauthorized mass use of Special Surveillance Devices, SRS.

The probe in the case is still ongoing, and, according to sources from the Prosecutor's Office, the delay is largely attributed to Nikolov's sudden dead and the subsequent lack of expert report proving the van has been used for spying.

The former Interior Minister, who is also the Deputy Chairman of the now-opposition, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, insists he is innocent, stressing the charges are groundless as every former and future Interior Ministry head could face similar ones.

Tsvetanov is also charged on a different count – obstruction of justice.

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