site.btaProsecutor General Wants Alexander Metodiev MP Stripped of Immunity

Prosecutor General Wants Alexander Metodiev MP Stripped of Immunity

Sofia, July 7 (BTA) - Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov has asked the National Assembly to strip Alexander Metodiev MP (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) of his immunity so he can be prosecuted for breaching traffic rules and threatening to "fire" police officers who had stopped a van carrying "his men."

According to an account by the BGNES news agency, the incident occurred just outside Kostenets (also in Sofia Region) on May 1. Approaching the town in his Mercedes-Benz, Metodiev passed a line of three vehicles, which was against the rules on that particular section of the road. Police signalled him to stop, but he ignored them and drove on.

Shortly afterwards, the same officers (who were conducting a law enforcement operation in that area) stopped a van on the same spot. The van was transporting members of the Roma football team of Samokov. One of the seven persons in the vehicle had no ID on him and was therefore asked to go over to the police car in order to receive a written statement of violation of administrative regulations.

The group urged the enforcers not to punish the man and issued threats. They called Metodiev on the telephone to tell him what had happened. The lawmaker soon went back to the spot and rudely demanded an explanation from the officers why they were punishing "my men." He flourished his MP card and was being vulgar. He threatened to "fire" the police officers.

The Prosecution of Bulgaria said a preliminary check conducted by the Sofia City Prosecution Office had shown that during the May 1 incident Metodiev committed two crimes at public law: he obstructed a public officer in the conditions of a continuing offence and hooliganism.