A reporter and a driver of the Bulgarian paper Galeria have been arrested, interrogated and released by the police after researching on properties of the Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

According to the Bulgarian daily Dnevnik, the Galeria reporter, Dobromir Dobrev, and the driver have been arrested at the office of the paper after coming back from the village of Shuma, where Tsvetanov has a property.

Shortly after the reporter and the driver arrived at the office, policemen entered and arrested them over a theft that had happened in the village of Shuma.

The Interior Ministry has told Dnevnik that the arrest was conducted after receiving an alarm on the emergency telephone number 112 from a woman, who said that a car had tried to run over her. The woman gave the plate number of the Galeria staff car.

However, according to the reporter, the policemen said that theft and not a car accident was the reason for the arrest. Dobrev also said that he and his colleague were asked for the purpose of their trip to Shuma and whether they have been taking pictures of Tsvetanov's property.

The editor-in-chief of Galeria, Kristina Patrashkova, has announced that the two men were forced to sign a declaration, saying that they will not violate the public policy. In her words, the men have only been talking to Shuma residents.

"They have not entered the private property and have not violated the law in any way," Patrashkova told the Bulgarian Darik Radio.

Tsvetanov's properties were publicly questioned by the leader of the "Order, Law and Justice" party, Yane Yanev, who gave out declarations about the minister's properties and data from the Registry Agency.

Yanev accused Tsvetanov that his properties have been bought with money having unclear origin.

It is widely perceived that the Galeria paper is launched and serves the interest of former National Security (DANS) agent Alexei Petrov, who was arrested February over allegations of leading organized crime group and wh ois currently under house arrest.

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