site.btaAssociation of Municipalities Concerned over General-Toshevo Mayor's "Showy Arrest"

The National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) on Friday expressed its concern over what it described as the "showy arrest" of the mayor of General Toshevo, Northeastern Bulgaria, which it says was made "without any evidence of guilt".

The mayor, Valentin Dimitrov, was arrested on Wednesday at the request of the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Sofia in a probe into subsidy fraud involving a project for increasing energy efficiency in social housing. The Bulgarian Socialist Party saw Dimitrov's arrest as politically motivated and taking place on the eve of the local elections. Local Socialists held a protest rally in the regional capital Dobrich, claiming that Dimitrov is the most respectable mayor they have ever had. He was released on BGN 10,000 bail.

NAMRB said in a declaration: "Such acts ahead of the local elections raise suspicion that opponents are being removed for political purposes, and therefore we expect the competent authorities to react quickly and without bias. During his current term in office, which is coming to an end, and as a member of the NAMRB Management Board, Mr Dimitrov has invariably been a staunch and responsible champion of the principles and the interests of local self-government, defending well-substantiated positions."

NAMRB noted that the European Charter of Local Self-Government, to which Bulgaria is a party, describes local authorities as "one of the main foundations of any democratic regime", and says that administrative supervision of local authorities should be exercised "in such a way as to ensure that the intervention of the controlling authority is kept in proportion to the importance of the interests which it is intended to protect".

The Association vowed that its Management Board will follow the events closely and may alert the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in case of violation of Article 11 of the European Charter, which provides for legal protection of local self-government.