Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Vows Indictment in Fake Ballots Case in 7 Days

Politics » DOMESTIC | October 4, 2013, Friday // 16:40
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Vows Indictment in Fake Ballots Case in 7 Days Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov, photo by BGNES

Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov has vowed progress as regards the scandal with the illegally printed ballots discovered ahead of the May 12 early elections, adding that a suspect would be indicted within a week.

"The scandal with the ballots and the wiretapping has not faded away and there will be an indicted person over the ballots discovered in Kostinbrod in a week's time. The European Commission is well-acquainted with everything which is going on in Bulgaria," Tsatsarov stated Friday, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

Bulgarians went to the polls on May 12 to elect a new Parliament after the GERB government led by Borisov resigned on February 20 amid nationwide anti-poverty and corruption protests.

Late on May 10, a team of prosecutors and officers of Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS) stormed into a printing facility in the western town of Kostinbrod and seized a huge load of ballots.

It was reported that the Multiprint company had been awarded a public procurement contract worth around BGN 800 000 to print and deliver 7.8 million ballots for the May 12 early elections.

The firm had been under an obligation to print and deliver the ballots to the district administrations by May 8.

The printing house is owned by a municipal councilor in Kostinbrod from the formerly-ruling center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, which prompted opposition parties to accuse GERB of an attempted voting fraud.

The owner initially claimed that the extra ballots had been printed by mistake but shortly after that he argued that they were technical spoilage.

GERB leader and former Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, insisted his party's chances had been damaged by allegations.

Tsatsarov is in Brussels where he met with the Secretary General of the European Commission.

The working meeting was initiated by Bulgaria and featured a discussion on what had already been done and what was yet to be done for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report on Bulgaria from July 2012.

Tsatsarov told journalists that the prosecuting authority expected positive evaluations in the next report under the cooperation and verification mechanism.

Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor said that the CVM report was likely to come out in January and he was a moderate optimist about the conclusions of the EC.

"The EC very much insists on the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) and we must find political will. There is no time for postponing and bargaining," the Chief Prosecutor added.

He also informed that a functional analysis of the structure and organization of the prosecuting authority had been made, as well as a plan for its development over the next 6 months.

He emphasized that the upcoming CVM report was important for the country's Schengen Accession, adding that if it was published in December, Bulgaria's Schengen bid could be reviewed in the same month.

Tsatsarov voiced hopes that the report would register progress but noted that nobody could give assurances that the monitoring mechanism would be lifted.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Domestic » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: fake ballots, Kostinbrod, Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov, early elections, Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM)

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria