Alleged Bulgarian Mafia Bosses Slammed for Running for MPs

Bulgaria's chief prosecutor has harshly criticized the decision of two notorious businessmen from the southwest town of Dupnitsa to run for parliament, saying what they seek is an escape from justice.

"When people who are charged with certain offences run for MPs, it is a way to escape justice," Boris Velchev said.

Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov, known as the Galevi Brothers, are set to run for parliament in the general elections in the summer as independent candidates, their lawyer announced over the weekend.

"Hundreds, thousands of Bulgarians who are in custody have the constitutional right to run for parliament, why should these two men be deprived of their rights?," Galevi's lawyer Menko Menkov told Darik radio.

Asked whether the two men are just seeking the protection of the immunity from prosecution that MPs enjoy, their lawyer said:

"Each and every MP's immunity can be lifted."

Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov have been in custody for five months already on charges of establishing and leading an organized crime group and racketeering.

The two became publicly known after it was leaked to the media that the former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov had met with them while they were under investigation for organized crime activities.

The information spurred a scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of Petkov as Interior Minister.

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