In connection with the frequent cases in the last month, in which public figures made allegations through the media about received data or direct threats to their security, the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office on its own initiative referred the matter in accordance with its competence.
Invitations were immediately sent to the MP Mr. Hristo Petrov, Mr. Boyko Rashkov - Minister of Interior, journalist Mr. Atanas Chobanov, as well as Sofia Municipal Councilor Mr. Boris Bonev in order to provide information about their threats.
In order to preserve the security of the above mentioned, the supervising prosecutors immediately requested information from the competent institutions - Ministry of Interior - General Directorate Combating Organized Crime, General Directorate National Police, State Intelligence Agency, State Agency for National Security and the Defense Intelligence Service, whether they have data on threats against these persons, as well as what actions they have taken in case such are available. So far, no response has been received in the Prosecutor's Office. The only answer received from State Agency National Security is that it does not have information concerning the person Atanas Chobanov. It is inadmissible for the Prosecutor’s Office to be unnotified if such data are available in the relevant law enforcement agencies in order to gather evidence for prosecuting accused persons.
What should be noted is that in the first two cases, namely those for Mr. Petrov and Mr. Rashkov, the Prosecutor's Office has not received so far any information about the actions that the services of the Ministry of Interior and other competent institutions have taken to identify the potential perpetrators of crimes.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria is the only body that is competent to assess whether a crime has been committed and to bring the perpetrators to justice. In order to exercise these powers and to initiate pre-trial proceedings, it is necessary to have a legal reason and sufficient data according to Article 207, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In the specific cases there is a legitimate reason in view of the information in the media within the meaning of Article 208, item 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code, but there is insufficient data to make a reasonable assumption of a crime of a general nature. Therefore, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria through its actions makes efforts to collect specific data, but in case the competent authorities have such data, they are obliged to provide them to the Prosecution in order to exercise its legal powers.
In addition to their obligations under the Criminal Procedure Code by virtue of the Ministry of Interior Act , the State Agency for National Security Act and Judicial System Act, the bodies of these structures are obliged to cooperate, which is the most important and basic condition for protecting the rights of Bulgarian citizens and ensuring the rule of law.
In order to better cooperate and clarify the cases at 16.00 today in the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office are invited representatives of the leadership of General Directorate Combating Organized Crime, General Directorate National Police, State Intelligence Agency and State Agency for National Security and the Defense Intelligence Service. The supervising prosecutors will also attend the meeting.
Observance of the order established in the Constitution and the procedural laws is the obligation of all representatives of the law enforcement institutions. In addition, only through good cooperation between the individual agencies and the Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office an effective and high-quality investigation of individual cases could be achieved, including when collecting sufficient data for a crime and prosecuting the relevant accused persons.
Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office finds absolutely inadmissible and undermining the dignity of particular magistrate and the prestige of the judiciary as a whole, the comments, made by one of the threatened persons in relation to the supervising prosecutor. Prosecutor Boev was duly elected through random distribution of cases as a supervisor of the specific inspection. It is incorrect and inadmissible to draw conclusions and evaluations of his work.
Only through joint action between law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, in particular the Prosecution, the public interest will be protected and the security of citizens will be guaranteed.