Former acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev commented in the studio of "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" on BNT on the "Petrokhan" case, which according to representatives of the Ministry of Interior is "an unprecedented case in the last 20-30 years". He expressed serious concerns about the attempt to reduce the investigation to a single version and quickly conclude it.
"We should not speculate in such a direction, but we must get to the truth. Obviously, about what happened in Petrokhan, the words of representatives of the Ministry of Interior are that this is an unprecedented case in the last 20-30 years in the country. The truth must be reached," he said.
Demerdzhiev emphasized that society has the right to the whole truth about the six dead, not fragmentary facts:
"I am personally concerned about the attempt to close and end this case with a single version. It cannot be closed this way. It must be clarified. Society must know the truth behind these 6 people who died in Petrokhan. And then this case can be closed."
In his words, if the investigation is limited to the finding of murders and suicides, without clarifying all the circumstances, there will be no trial and no real legal assessment:
"If it stops at the 6 bodies, there will be no trial, because there will be no case. The case ends - there are murders, suicides, and that's it. There is currently no truth for there to be an alternative truth."
The former Interior Minister sharply raised the question of previous reports related to some of the deceased, and the actions of the prosecutor's office:
"I did not hear a meaningful answer from the prosecutor's office. What happened to the proceedings initiated regarding reports related to these people? Why were these reports concluded in this way? There are two possibilities - one is incompetence, the second is to somehow put an umbrella over these people."
According to him, refusing to testify does not cancel the prosecutor's office's obligation to investigate:
"This does not remove the need and the obligation of the prosecutor's office to investigate. If the prosecutor's office had fulfilled its obligations, it would have known what was happening in Petrokhan."
In the context of the case, it became clear that one of the participants had 16 weapon registrations. Demerdzhiev denied having any involvement in their issuance:
"I have not issued a single permit. A head of a regional administration issued one permit during my time. It is not normal to expect the minister to monitor what every chief is doing. But if a signal of abuse is received, then it is the minister's role to intervene."
Demerdzhiev also commented on the actions of SANS after a session in parliament was classified, without the results being announced:
"SANS should have informed the members of parliament. The agency should have convincingly explained whether there was a connection, what this connection was, and what actions they had taken. They owe this information to the National Assembly."
Regarding joint actions between the Ministry of Interior and a non-governmental organization related to the case, he specified:
"Training weapons of these people were used by Ministry of Interior employees. They did not participate in a joint exercise, but their equipment was used. But this was neither reported to me nor did it happen with my sanction."
A training exercise was conducted between the Ministry of Interior's Regional Office - Montana and the "Petrohan" investigated in the case "National Agency for Control of Protected Territories"
Asked about the future Minister of the Interior in the caretaker cabinet, which will be proposed by Andrey Gyurov, he stated:
"In any case, it must be a person who will guarantee the fairness of the vote and who will not allow what happened in the last three elections to be repeated."