In a position sent to BTA on Monday, Deputy Prosecutor General and National Investigation Service head Borislav Sarafov reacts to statements made by Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev in his Sunday evening interview on Bulgarian National Television. Following is the full text of Sarafov's position, which concerns the May 1 blast near Geshev's motorcade southwest of Sofia.
"It is not my fault and I do not want to be responsible for other people's sins, and in this sense what I said [on May 1] - that Mr Ivan Geshev's family was in the car with him at the time of the explosion - was provoked precisely because he himself in a telephone conversation gave me that impression. In fact, if Mr Geshev had wished to clarify and correct my mistake, he could have done so the same day in a statement, which would have provided the necessary clarity and would have stopped and avoided the manipulations of the topic. This was not done, and his silence has given rise to harsh public discussion and loose interpretations. Why the Prosecutor General remained silent for a whole week instead of giving the clarifications owed to Bulgarian society and avoiding discussion and politicisation of this issue, is a question to which I have no answer. Subsequently, I myself, protecting the 'honour of the epaulet', as well as his and the whole institution's image, tried to be correct in my statements, but this obviously caused a political and therefore media reaction against me, for which I am not to blame and thus not wish to take responsibility.
"I owe Bulgarian society one more answer - about the Israeli expert who visited the scene on the day of the incident. This expert was brought in by my deputy, Mr Yassen Todorov, on Mr Geshev's orders. I do not know him [the expert], I have no information about his name, official position and expertise, but, following direct instructions, my fellow investigators on duty and I allowed him to visit the scene, where he familiarised himself on site with the circumstances surrounding the explosion, although he was not allowed to see the seized physical evidence and only made a visual inspection, after which he left with Mr Todorov.
"At the same time, I would like to make it clear that both I and the majority of my colleagues believe that the prosecution must leave the political terrain, where it has dug itself in deep, and return to its natural environment - to the defence of justice solely within the framework of its institutional powers," Sarafov says in his position.
This is Sarafov's second written position circulated to the media since the May 1 blast. His previous position, sent to BTA on May 5, was prompted by the calls for his resignation over making public misleading information about the blast.
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