Lack of experts and the failure of the Interior Ministry and of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) to submit evidence blocked Tuesday the trial against former Defense Minister, Nikolay Tsonev.

It became clear during the courts session that the magistrates cannot find independent experts, who are not employed by the Forensic Institute of the Interior Ministry, to help with the case.

The experts are needed for 2 analyses – a technical one to find out if the recordings of conversations between the three defendants, made with special surveillance devices (SRS), were tampered with and a graphology one to establish if the same person had asked authorization to use SRS and has given the permission.

The judge in the case, Ivan Koev, informed he had spoken unofficially with a number of independent experts, who declined to participate over worries about pressure and eventual dismissal from work.

The Prosecutor in the case, Bozhidar Dzambazov, objected, saying every expert is presumed unbiased unless there is evidence for the contrary to which the judge replied he meant a dependence related to employment with the Interior Ministry.

The defense lawyer stated he fully understood the motives of experts outside the police to work with the court. "We all know what kind of county we live in," he said.

The case was also postponed because DANS failed to provide the requested documentation and Tsvetanov had not submitted his answers to questions asked by the magistrates.

Former Defense Minister, Nikolay Tsonev, who was part of the previous, Socialist-led cabinet of the Three-Way Coalition 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.

Sofia City Court judge, Petar Santirov, and financial consultant, Tencho Popov, were also arrested during the same operation.

Tsonev, Santirov and Popov were charged with bribing investigator, Petyo Petrov, to forge evidence that would lead to a positive outcome for Tsonev of an investigation against him. The amount of the bribe was reported to have been EUR 60 000.

Investigator Petyo Petrov was working on the case of a BGN 120 M contract that Tsonev signed with a private company while he was Minister in 2008-2009. The investigation of the deal was started at the end of 2009 and has not been taken to court yet.

The arrest of Nikolay Tsonev on April 1, 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 Prosecutor Roman Vasilev called him "a criminal". The Ethics Commission at Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) later sanctioned Vasilev, for his inappropriate behavior during the arrest.

The former Defense Minister is suing the Bulgarian state in Strasbourg, complaining of "humiliating treatment" by the police.

On November 24, special surveillance tapes were shown for the first time in an "open doors" court trial in Bulgaria.

During the session, the magistrates were able to examine only one of a total of four recordings – the first conversation between Santirov and Popov.

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