site.btaParliament Will Not Hear Interior Minister, Officers who Busted Illegal Cigarette Ring in Plovdiv

At the plenary sitting of Parliament on Wednesday, the governing coalition of GERB-UDF, BSP – United Left and There is Such a People (TISP), backed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – New Beginning, defeated a motion for the legislature to give a hearing to Interior Minister Daniel Mitov and police officers who uncovered an illegal cigarette ring in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria). Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Vazrazhdane, Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF), MECh and Velichie voted in favour of adding the hearing to the agenda. BSP–United Left first sided with the opposition, but when the motion was revoted they changed their mind.

On April 2, tensions between Interior Minister Daniel Mitov and the opposition Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition flared up over an alleged attempt by anti-mafia police chiefs to abort an ongoing operation against an illegal cigarette ring and tip off the offenders of the impending arrests. The rank-and-file officers defied the order and went ahead with the raid, risking their careers. That led to a haul of contraband cigarettes worth BGN 8 million, according to the BOEC civic movement which published a video and screenshots of a WhatsApp chat purportedly between the police officers and their superiors.

Commenting on Parliament's failure to go ahead with the hearing, Yordan Ivanov MP of CC-DB said in a position by Yes, Bulgaria (one of the parties in the coalition) that “there are signs that the state has extended its protection to the illegal cigarettes business. At the same time, the National Assembly has rejected a hearing of eight brave police officers who want to share with us what happened during the operation against the cigarette ring in Plovdiv. This is unprecedented.”

"This morning, we said that a chief has been appointed to the Combating Organized Crime Sector in Plovdiv. Interior Minister Daniel Mitov later denied this and lied," Ivanov said in Parliament lobby. "I ask the minister to show an order by Interior Ministry Deputy Secretary General Miroslav Rashkov dated April 3, appointing Ivan Tsokovski as chief of the Combating Organized Crime Sector in Plovdiv," Ivanov added.

Later on Wednesday, reacting to CC-DB's claim that "the power holders continue to cover up the Plovdiv cigarette ring", Interior Minister Mitov told a news briefing in Targovishte (Northeastern Bulgaria) that the hearing on the case, demanded by Yes, Bulgaria, will be held next week. Mitov explained that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the former deputy director of the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime and he will be removed from office in accordance with the Interior Ministry Act, but no new head of the Plovdiv Sector has been appointed.