site.btaProsecutor General Orders Special Supervision of Pretrial Proceedings on Waste-Related Offences

January 21 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev has ordered the appellate prosecution offices countrywide to place under special supervision the pretrial proceedings in connection with offences involving waste mismanagement and irregular cross-border movement, the prosecution service said in a press release on Tuesday.

Special supervision will also be imposed on all cases instituted on evidence collected by the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for National Security in the course of a joint check ordered by Geshev a fortnight ago into compliance with the requirements of the Waste Management Act and the Environmental Protection Act.

If Italy needs to be approached for cooperation, the European Investigation Order mechanisms will be used through the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust).

Geshev's order comes in the wake of snowballing media reports about suspicious waste deliveries from Italy, triggered by the interception by Italian Carabinieri on December 11, 2019 of an 815-tonne undocumented waste shipment near Milan, loaded into 17 railcars and presumably destined for unlawful destruction or landfilling in Bulgaria. RI/LG
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