Bulgaria’s Supreme Cassation Court has fully acquitted Lidia Shuleva, former Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet of Simeon Saxe-Coburg, on charges of malfeasance in office.

The ruling is final and upholds an earlier decision by Sofia City Court, citing lack of evidence.

Shuleva was accused of appointing Pavel Pavlov as head of the Information and Communication Services unit at the Economy Ministry without checking whether he had a security clearance for access to classified information.

In end-2006, Pavlov was arrested on charges of bribery.

He subsequently became subject to inspection on suspicions of misuse of documents classified as Confidential and Strictly Confidential.

The trial against Shuleva took place behind closed doors at the request of the prosecuting authority so that certain documents could be kept secret.

Shuleva has defined the trial against her as political repression.

In 2001, Shuleva reached the peak of her political career as a Deputy PM and Social Minister in Saxe-Coburg's Cabinet.

In 2003 she was as appointed Bulgarian Economy Minister, but in 2005 Shuleva's name became entangled in a huge political scandal that eventually led to her dismissal as Economy Minister.

The scandal revolved around her attempt to conclude a deal for the privatization of Bulgartabac in violation of the strategy approved by the Parliament.

In addition to Shuleva's dismissal, the scandal led to the dismissal of Ognyan Gerdzhikov as Speaker of the 39th Parliament.

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