Defendant in 2013 Illegal Ballot Papers Case May Become Advisor of PM Borisov

Rosen Zhelyazkov, the sole defendant in the case for the illegal ballot papers discovered on the eve of the early elections on May 12, 2013, is likely to return to a post at Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Rumyana Bachvarova, as cited by the BGNES news agency, Zhelyazkov may work with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Asked to confirm or reject the allegations that Zhelyazkov would be appointed advisor of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Bachvarova said “We will see, yes,”

Zhelyazkov, former Chief Secretary of the Council of Ministers, is on trial for failing to exercise adequate control over ballot papers.

The trial is to determine whether the extra ballot papers discovered during a police operation on May 11, 2013 at the “Multiprint” printing house had been fit for use in the early elections and could have resulted in election fraud.

The owner of the Kostinbrod-based printing facility was revealed to have ties to center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria).

The proceedings against Zhelyazkov have not been wrapped up.

A probe ordered by the prosecuting authority found that out of a total of 480 000 ballot papers discovered at the Kostinbrod-based printing house, some 351 075 had been absolutely fit to use, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

On December 16, 2013, the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office submitted to court an indictment against Rosen Zhelyazkov over abuse of office.

The offense is punishable by 1-8 years of imprisonment.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!