site.btaProsecutor General Asks Parliament to Lift Immunity of MP Iliya Iliev for Alleged Vote Buying

Prosecutor General Asks Parliament to Lift Immunity of MP Iliya Iliev for Alleged Vote Buying

Sofia, December 12 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov has approached the National Assembly with a request to lift the immunity of Iliya Iliev MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the prosecution service said in a press release on Monday.

The request is based on evidence taken by the Yambol District Prosecution Office and the Sofia City Prosecution Office, according to which between September 5 and October 5, 2014 Iliev offered between 30 and 50 leva to residents of the Roma quarter in Yambol to vote for him in the October 5, 2014 parliamentary elections. The evidence also shows that on October 5, 2014 in Yambol Iliev offered 20 leva to eight persons each and gave the sum of 100 leva in order to induce them to vote for him.

The MP's immunity has already been lifted in connection with charges of embezzlement, pressed against him in another pre-trial proceeding by the Sofia City Prosecution Office. In the same came, former deputy transport, information technology and communications minister Anton Ginev is also charged with wilful mismanagement in a particularly large amount and constituting a particularly grave case.