Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev is prone to endorsing justice beyond the law and contracts with courts, according to fresh diplomatic cables of the US embassy in Sofia, revealed on WikiLeaks.

The cables, published by the site for investigative journalism www.bivol.bg, are entitled "New Chief Prosecutor Readies for "War" and were sent on February 7, 2006.

At the time of the meeting with Ambassador John Beyrle, Boris Velchev had been elected Chief Prosecutor by the Supreme Judicial Council, but still had not taken office.

In his recount of the conversation with Velchev, Beyrle notes his nods of approval for justice beyond the law.

"Despite his respect for the rule of law, Velchev argued that bending rules of evidence and procedure was justified in the case of certain organized crime leaders," read the diplomatic cables of the US Embassy, signed by the then Ambassador John Beyrle.

Referring again to the failure of Bulgarian prosecutors and law enforcement officials to collect more than "feeble evidence" against OC figures, Velchev announced his intention to pursue a "contract with the courts" - i.e., to appeal to judges to convict organized crime leaders based on evidence that otherwise might not pass muster.

"He estimated that such an arrangement would be justified against the country's 20-30 highest-ranking criminals, in whose cases adherence to "strict legal principles will be counterproductive."

According to Velchev, Interior Minister Petkov had already enlisted his support in deploying this strategy in the high-profile prosecution of the Marinov brothers for attempted murders linked to organized crime.

"I would never indulge in publicly discussing tete-a-tete meetings, let alone comment the retelling of such conversations, which took place more than five years ago," Boris Velchev said when approached for comment.

"What I can definitely say is that the excerpt in question is a result of some misunderstanding. I don't remember this particular meeting with the then ambassador, but the idea for some sort of a "contract with the courts" seems to me absurd. The idea is incompatible with my way of thinking," Velchev added.

The diplomatic cables reveal that Velchev spoke frankly about the current state of affairs in Bulgaria's prosecution service, stating that from what he has learned in recent weeks, the situation is "even worse than I had imagined."

In his words, the prosecution service under current Chief Prosecutor Nikola Filchev has evolved into "some kind of terrorist organization" used to settle political and business scores, but totally incapable of fighting crime.

So entrenched is the outgoing Chief Prosecutor's influence that just three weeks shy of Velchev's inauguration, his future deputies refuse to speak with him, openly hinting at fears of repercussions from Filchev.

Citing a lack of access to information, Velchev declined to provide a detailed "100-day plan," but outlined three potential sources of opposition to change: criminals, politicians, and the prosecutors themselves.

Velchev declared that he was "not afraid" of criminals, and "could find a way to deal with" politicians, but was most surprised and discouraged by resistance from within the prosecution service. He indicated that his first moves as Chief Prosecutor would be to prepare for "some kind of a war" with corrupt incumbent prosecutors.

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