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A Bulgarian second-instance court has cleared renowned German publicist Jurgen Roth, who was sued by the country's former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov over alleged slanders in his book about organized crime in Bulgaria, entitled "The New Demons".
The appeals court has rejected the former minister's claim that Roth pays him BGN 10,000 in damages, thus upholding the verdict of Sofia City Court, which was delivered exactly a year ago.
The trial was held behind closed doors due to the high-profile witnesses, including former head of Unit for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP) Vanyo Tanov and Former Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Valentin Petrov.
In his book Roth cites sources making scandalous statements that Petkov has relations to organized criminal networks and is involved in the production of synthetic drugs in Bulgaria.
According to high-level unnamed officials in the Interior, quoted by Roth, the former interior minister personally controls the trafficking of amphetamines from Bulgaria to Turkey and the Middle East, which was the practice of the Security Services during the communist regime. Petkov is also said to have met with criminal figures involved in drug production.
The investigative journalist has repeatedly confirmed that he stands behind every single word that he has written and would have done everything in the same way if he had to write his book today.
Now that he has scored an almost definitive victory over Rumen Petkov, Roth expects his enemy to try to brush everything under the carpet.
"His aim now will be to cover it all up, so that journalists don't speak or write about the outcome of the trial. Which does not mean that Bulgarian authorities should do their job and take him to justice," Roth said in an interview for Deutsche Welle.
Even after he lost the court battle against Jurgen Roth, Bulgaria's former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov has continued to claim the renowned German publicist is a "liar" and "mudslinger".
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