Sofia, June 22 (BTA) - The activity of prosecutor Nikolay
Nikolov in the last three years will be probed by order of
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev and the appellate prosecution
service in Veliko Turnovo (North Central Bulgaria), the
prosecuting magistracy said here on Monday. To be checked are
all of Nikolov's cases, participations in legal proceedings,
possible omissions or violations in the exercise of his powers,
and a potential connection with defendant Plamen Bobokov or
legal persons represented and managed by him. The report on the
probe should be ready by July 10.
Nikolov will also be checked by the Supreme Prosecution Office
of Cassation for possible violations of the Code of Ethical
Conduct of Bulgarian Magistrates.
On June 19, Bulgaria's Specialized Prosecution Office launched
an investigation against prosecutor Nikolay Nikolov and the
President's Secretary on Legal Affairs and Anti-Corruption,
Plamen Uzunov, in connection with trading in influence. The
investigation against the two was initiated after an analysis of
evidence seized during the investigation against businessmen
brothers Atanas and Plamen Bobokov, former deputy environment
minister Krassimir Zhivkov and other parties accused of
involvement in a criminal association engaged in unlawful waste
import and processing.
According to the prosecution service, businessman Plamen Bobokov
and Nikolov allegedly discussed via text messages assistance in
connection with the competition for appointing head of the
Rousse District Prosecution Office, a position for which Nikolov
applied in 2019.
On Monday, Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) President Georgi
Cholakov ordered an internal check in relation to the
prosecution's claim that a person under the alias "Prezident-Pl.
Uzunov" and Plamen Bobokov have exchanged information about a
SAC decision prior to its official publication. The check is
aimed at establishing all facts and circumstances related to the
information leak.
According to the prosecution, Plamen Bobokov allegedly exchanged
text messages with Uzunov regarding the revocation by the SAC
of an order banning the departure of the Libyan tanker Badr,
which was arrested in the Port of Bourgas at the end of 2018, to
secure a 9.25 million dollar claim against the state-owned
Libyan Navigator company.
Later on Monday, the Specialized Prosecution Office released new
data from the communication between Uzunov and Plamen Bobokov
that the investigators believe could be linked to Uzunov's many
years of work in the Interior Ministry's system, his post of
interior minister at the time, as well as his job of
representing the President's administration.
Part of the newly released communication, carried out through a
mobile application, shows that on January 22, 2019, Bobokov sent
to "Prezident-Pl. Uzunov" a photo of a rejected Bulgarian
citizenship application of a Russian national. The said national
lodged the application on August 10, 2017, and a year later the
Citizenship Council rejected the application due to an
objection by the State Agency for National Security for reasons
concerning national security.
In another part of the newly released communication, Bobokov
sends to the same recipient data on the identity of a Bulgarian
national of Lybian origin, as well as the number of an
application to the National Police Director for the removal from
the Interior Ministry's data base of data related to police
registrations and application materials.
In a third part of the communication, dated December 18, 2019,
Bobokov requests assistance in determining the ownership of two
motor vehicles: expensive cars owned by a certain car rental
company.
The President's Press Secretariat reacted with a statement to
the prosecuting magistracy's request of all materials related to
the communication between the President's Secretary, Plamen
Uzunov, and businessman Plamen Bobokov. The statement says that
the prosecuting magistracy continues to make insinuations about
the nature of Uzunov's communication, based on selected parts,
without clarity about the context of the exchanged
communication. Such a selection creates premises for various
insinuations and interpretations, which do not reflect the
objective reality. This approach causes concern about th
objectives of the selectively released information, the position
reads.
Responding to a journalist's question, the Press Secretariat
said that the approval or rejection of Bulgarian citizenship
applications is based on a proposal by the Minister of Justice
and involves statements from a few institutions, including the
prosecuting magistracy, the State Agency for National Security,
the Interior Ministry. None of the President's secretaries are
involved in this procedure whatsoever.
Also on Monday, the Specialized Prosecution Office questioned
Lukoil Bulgaria's control council head Valentin Zlatev.
Approached for comment, he told journalists that the prosecution
service had instructed him not to disclose information about
the questioning. He confirmed, however, that he had been
summoned by prosecutor Genka Brezashka, who works on the case
for trading in influence and unlawful waste import. Zlatev said
he knows the Bobokov brothers and former environment minister
Zhivkov. In his words, he has done nothing illegal and he does
not expect to be detained. NV, RI/DS, MY
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