Bulgaria's Ex Defense Minister Acquitted of Malfeasance

Politics » DOMESTIC | June 13, 2012, Wednesday // 20:47
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Ex Defense Minister Acquitted of Malfeasance Former Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev was conclusively acquitted of malfeasance in office on Wednesday. Photo by BGNES

The Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS) has cleared former Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev of malfeasance charges for alleged crimes committed in 1999.

Wednesday's ruling upheld the verdict of the Sofia Appellate Court and overturned the protest of the Sofia Appellate Prosecutor's Office that the decision breached material law and procedural rules.

VKS ruled that the claim about procedural violations had not been substantiated by concrete evidence.

Bulgaria's Defense Minister in 2008-2009 faced charges of malfeasance in office resulting in damages of BGN 19 M to the state budget.

The charges involved a decision made in his capacity of head of the Bulgarian military factories "Terem".

On June 1, VKS acquitted the former Defense Minister on a count of criminal breach of trust committed in 1999 in his capacity as an employee of the Defense Ministry.

The ruling upheld the decision of the Sofia Appellate Court and the Sofia Military Court, the court of first instance, clearing Tsonev of accusations of malfeasance in office in his capacity as head of the Procurement Management Directorate at the Ministry of Defense.

Tsonev faced charges of signing four damaging contracts for the supply of canned meat, pork, spare parts for trucks and Chavdar buses, Skoda car engines and aircraft equipment, thereby depriving the Ministry of Defense of over BGN 970 000 while ensuring profits for a number of private companies.

VKS ruled that the public procurement procedures in question had been lawful, and that all but one of them had started in 1998, even before Tsonev had become the chief of the Procurement Directorate.

Tsonev is also standing trial on bribe charges alongside Judge Petar Santirov and former Chief Secretary of the Finance Ministry Tencho Popov.

Tsnovev, Santirov and Popov have been charged with attempting to bribe investigator Petyo Petrov with EUR 20 000 to get a positive outcome of an investigation against Tsonev.

Tsonev, who was part of the previous, Socialist-led coalition cabinet from the quota of former Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg's party National Movement for Stability and Prosperity (NMSP), was arrested on April 1, 2010, in a much advertised police operation that generated strong public controversy.

The police operation, which was filmed and broadcast by the Interior Ministry, spurred a public outrage of police brutality as masked police officers made him kneel to the ground while Deputy Sofia City Prosecutor Roman Vasilev called him "an absolute criminal".

The Ethics Commission at Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) later penalized Vasilev with a disciplinary reprimand for his inappropriate behavior during the arrest.

The former Defense Minister is suing the Bulgarian state in Strasbourg over the humiliation that he suffered during his police arrest.

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Tags: Nikolay Tsonev, Defense Minister, malfeasance, Petar Santirov, Tencho Popov, Supreme Court of Cassation, VKS, public procurement, Sofia Appellate Court

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