Prosecutors Start Probe into Saxe-Coburg's Property Restitution
Politics | August 24, 2006, Thursday| 1868 views
Send to KindleSofia City Prosecutor's office is expected to launch two investigations into the restitution of property to former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg.
Probes will look into the decisions of Sofia Municipality employees, who, prosecutors believe, are guilty of malfeasance in office, Darik News reported.
The move comes several days after right-wingers Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) urged ministers to revoke a controversial document that backed the property return.
Regional Development Minister Assen Gagauzov and Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil, would be held personally responsible for the report of the commission, formed six months ago to deliver a verdict on the former prime minister restitution, which endorsed, though tentatively, the hand-back as legal.
Only five Socialist MPs from the ruling three-party coalition had objected the report of the ad-hoc commission to identify the seized and restituted property of the families of former kings Ferdinand I and Boris III and their heirs, while all their buddies nodded it. 51 more opposition members also countered the decision.
The report did no more than present the facts. It failed to definitively back or deny the hand-over, but succeeded to keep, though tentatively, the integrity of the ruling coalition.
Despite pressure from MPs of the king's party Simeon II National Movement, the report skipped the word "legitimate". Meanwhile socialists made it clear that any member of parliament can approach the prosecution office and attack the deals.
The report says the restitution of property to Simeon Saxe-Coburg was based on a ruling of the Constitutional court, dated 1998. The question remains however whether a Constitutional court ruling may greenlight the restitution. If not, the restitution can be challenged in court.
Lawyers, however, argue that the MPs cannot throw the hot potato to the magistrates and should first adopt a law on the royal restitution.
The report covers the royal palaces of Vrana, Tsarska Bistritsa and Sitnyakovo, the summer villa called Sarugyol, built about 100 years ago by King Ferdinand, houses in the villages of Banya and Slatina and forests in the Rila mountain.
The former king, who was forced to flee in 1946 after the communist takeover, came home in the late 1990s, when the family property was handed back.
Probes will look into the decisions of Sofia Municipality employees, who, prosecutors believe, are guilty of malfeasance in office, Darik News reported.
The move comes several days after right-wingers Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) urged ministers to revoke a controversial document that backed the property return.
Regional Development Minister Assen Gagauzov and Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil, would be held personally responsible for the report of the commission, formed six months ago to deliver a verdict on the former prime minister restitution, which endorsed, though tentatively, the hand-back as legal.
Only five Socialist MPs from the ruling three-party coalition had objected the report of the ad-hoc commission to identify the seized and restituted property of the families of former kings Ferdinand I and Boris III and their heirs, while all their buddies nodded it. 51 more opposition members also countered the decision.
The report did no more than present the facts. It failed to definitively back or deny the hand-over, but succeeded to keep, though tentatively, the integrity of the ruling coalition.
Despite pressure from MPs of the king's party Simeon II National Movement, the report skipped the word "legitimate". Meanwhile socialists made it clear that any member of parliament can approach the prosecution office and attack the deals.
The report says the restitution of property to Simeon Saxe-Coburg was based on a ruling of the Constitutional court, dated 1998. The question remains however whether a Constitutional court ruling may greenlight the restitution. If not, the restitution can be challenged in court.
Lawyers, however, argue that the MPs cannot throw the hot potato to the magistrates and should first adopt a law on the royal restitution.
The report covers the royal palaces of Vrana, Tsarska Bistritsa and Sitnyakovo, the summer villa called Sarugyol, built about 100 years ago by King Ferdinand, houses in the villages of Banya and Slatina and forests in the Rila mountain.
The former king, who was forced to flee in 1946 after the communist takeover, came home in the late 1990s, when the family property was handed back.
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