The deputy chairman of the PP-DB parliamentary group and leader of the "Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria" Atanas Atanasov insisted on the complete declassification of the information on the "Petrohan" case. He told BNT that he could not determine whether there was any damage and to what extent to the PP-DB after this "bloody criminal drama".
"I do not see any damage, regardless of the fact that certain showmen from the parliament are trying to score some points. We must take this bloody criminal drama extremely seriously. This thing cannot be used, abused in the public space for political purposes. Obviously, that is what it is being done for, what else? Are those who spread all sorts of slander and insults concerned about people's mental health or something like that?"
Atanasov is categorical that the case is being politicized and insisted that the institutions do their job and calm people down.
"Let's state the facts - I am a lawyer with 40 years of experience and there is a very important principle in law - give us the facts, we will give you the law. The fact that there was something abnormal there, to put it mildly, is already clear to everyone. It is no coincidence that there were such violent public reactions. Our society is divided, the institutions must make efforts to calm people down by giving the truth. I agree that there are also violations of certain rules. What is this agreement, why was it signed at all, it has no legal value. There have been disputes in the past about how this happened. The facts so far from the investigation show that this is about murders and suicides in this society, that is, there is no external intervention. What I see and it is very sad that the 15-year-old boy was killed. He was shot because there is no burn on his hands."
The Interior Ministry Inspectorate should check the weapons permits in the “Petrohan“ case, Atanasov also called.
"Giving permits for so many weapons, here the Interior Ministry Inspectorate should enter this directorate and not only it and turn the tables. Because there is usually petty corruption there. Someone pushes some money to quickly get a permit and so on. Only one thing is important, however. I insist, and we will take all actions as a political force in this regard, to get rid of all secrets. On the one hand - the supervising prosecutor should lift the investigative secrecy and all the information that has been collected in this case should become public knowledge. And the other thing is that yesterday I was amazed by the inadequate behavior of the ruling party. We submitted a request to the Commission for Control of the Services to declassify all materials related to the case in the National Security Agency and the Directorate for the Prevention of Corruption. There is nothing more to keep secret, these people are dead. This information should come out, who was an associate, who was in an operational relationship with someone. Who they went to, who met with whom. Because these operational relationships, hidden, very likely formed an operational umbrella."
According to the leader of "Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria", it is possible that certain people were mistaken about the NGO that managed the hut.
"The mayor of the Sofia Municipality gave money to these people, he did not take from them. Let him say why he was there. Look, it is quite possible that certain people, based on some personal connections or something similar, even if they were mistaken. This is a very beautiful place. Very attractive. At the top of the mountain. Probably tourists and those who knew these people. The fact that there were some personal relationships, let them clarify them. This abuse, the public, the political from this criminal case, which is a very sad story for the state in general.
"This is a closed religious community that has done everything necessary so that the public outside does not understand what is happening inside. Therefore, there may be someone who was mistaken in their contacts."
Regarding the misleading name of the NGO - "National Agency for Control of Protected Territories" Atanasov announced that there are 62 NGOs with this name.
"To change the legislation. Because you can't imitate state bodies. Apparently there's a loophole in the law here that was used."
"In my opinion, there's a leak of information from the services. And it's already clear through which channel. That's why I'm saying, declassify all the information so we can see who's in this whole story."
When asked why Boyko Rashkov closed the police station in Godech, Atanasov replied:
"Here, this is also political abuse. At his time, a comprehensive reform was being carried out. I don't remember, 20 or so district police departments in the country were transformed into police stations. In order to make savings, which may not have been right. I can't judge, ultimately. Because it's not good to, to put it bluntly, suck in personnel from the periphery of the country and crowd them into big cities. The process should be the other way around."
He believes that the outgoing government doesn't care about what's happening around the "Petrokhan" case.
"The Council of Ministers is responsible for ensuring public order and security in the country. Initiatives should start coming from the Council of Ministers. And now, because the old government is leaving and is not caring, on top of that, they are sabotaging certain activities. That's why I'm outraged by what happened yesterday in the Commission for Control of Services. We propose a rational move to calm the public. Let's take down all the secrets, give all the information to the public, so that they understand what exactly happened. Because now, on the one hand, some are slandering the state for having created or not created the conditions, others for others, in order to calm down.
Who handed out this weapon? By the way, this was at the time when Kalin Stoyanov was the director of the service for combating organized crime.
BNT: Then he was a minister in your cabinet.
- Yes, that's how it was and I know who proposed it, Boyko Borisov personally."
On the nomination of Andrey Gyurov as acting prime minister, Atanasov commented:
"This is the optimal decision that the president could have made, in my opinion. Because the other candidates are all personnel appointments of the current political status quo, dependent people in a certain sense politically. Andrey Gyurov is a relatively independent person. Distanced from politics for a long time. That's why I say, the optimal solution is this, possible under these restrictions of the Constitution. I don't need to be satisfied. For the party to be satisfied, we need to create conditions for holding fair, as transparent as possible elections."
Atanasov noted that he knows some names with whom they are being talked about becoming potential ministers in the service cabinet.
"I already know some names with whom contacts have been made. This is a procedure in which the candidate for Prime Minister must convince candidates and form a team. Unfortunately, I learned that a very decent person has refused to become Minister of Internal Affairs, because the responsibility is serious. But I hope that joint efforts will be made. I hear that Mrs. Yotova has distanced herself slightly. This is a joint job. Yes, the candidate for prime minister will have to be proposed, but the president may or may not appoint him. So there must be a dialogue about this. And first of all, very important. The way money is managed in a country is a primary task of the government. By the end of March, we have an extension law on the old budget. The elections will be held on April 19. The caretaker government must submit a draft law to the current parliament to extend the budget's validity period, because it will turn out that just before the elections, the state will not be able to pay its bills."