site.btaMan Arrested for Threatening Magistrates Acted Alone

The man who was arrested on Thursday for threatening magistrates acted alone, Chief Commissioner Atanas Ilkov, head of the General Directorate National Police, told the media on Friday. The man, Ilko Zahariev, is believed to have a mental illness which needs to be diagnosed, Ilkov added.

Zahariev was arrested without resisting in the cemetery in Sofia's Boyana suburb, Ilkov said. The man cooperated with the police and made a full confession shortly after he was arrested, it emerged on Thursday night.

Two phones were found on him with 10 mailboxes from which threats had been sent to judge Vladislava Tsarigradska, Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel, Education Minister Galin Tzokov, the head of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior, customs officers and prosecutors, among others.

Ilko Zahariev was using free public hotspots which helped to track him. He always sent the threats to institutional email addresses. Numerous pieces of evidence were found on him.

The man is antisocial and his threats have no political overtones, the Chief Commissioner said. In his words, the man follows public life, which is why he was so active. He has not said yet why he sent all the threats.

The man has no accomplices, said Commissioner Vladimir Dimitrov, head of the Cyber Crime Unit at the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime.