site.btaSeven Detained in Sofia for Infringement on Citizens' Political Rights

During an operation against infringement on citizens' political rights in Sofia on Wednesday, the police detained a total of 26 people suspected of various violations, seven of them for vote buying. The operation continues across Sofia, including in the Hristo Botev borough where some streets are blocked by police officers. 

Sofia police chief Lyubomir Nikolov told reporters that during searchers at various addresses, the police found drugs, forged documents, excise goods without excise duty stamps, and a printing press for forged degrees. Among the detained are a car thief and a person with an illegal firearm.

A list of names and phone numbers was found at one of the addresses, with sums of money written down next to them. A person with a criminal record was arrested; the police does not have information of him having been engaged in vote buying before. Others of the detained have been known to the police from previous elections; some have been sentenced.

The number of alerts for infringement on citizens' rights now number 11, up from the previous elections, Nikolov specified. The pre-trial proceedings have increased in number as well. Operational data show one vote trades at BGN 50 to 100, Nikolov also said.