Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev called on the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office to act quickly and impartially on the check related to the data on payments for private flights of a party leader and a member of parliament. The reason for his position is the fact that the prosecutor's office has requested and received the materials on the file of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigations, formed after a report was filed.
“The time has come for the Bulgarian prosecutor's office to show who it works for“, said Demerdzhiev, quoted by Nova TV. According to him, checks on all reports must be carried out conscientiously and impartially, regardless of who they concern. According to the minister, this is exactly how the officers of the General Directorate of Internal Affairs acted.
„Now is the time for the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office to show whether it believes that the law is the same for everyone. I hope for quick action on the investigation. I hope the General Prosecutor's Office will show that it seeks justice, not sweeping it under the rug“, he also pointed out.
However, Demerdzhiev expressed doubt that this will happen. As a reason, he cited another investigation by the General Prosecutor's Office, which is checking whether officers of the General Directorate of Internal Affairs did not exceed their powers by checking a person with immunity. Officers have already been questioned in this proceeding.
„The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stands behind every single officer who checks every signal impartially. And the prosecutor's office?!“, said the interior minister.
His position comes against the backdrop of the inspections surrounding the private jet trips of DPS leader Delyan Peevski. On July 31, Demerdzhiev notified the Court of Audit with a request to verify the property status and declared income of the MP. According to the interior minister, there are circumstances that raise doubts about a discrepancy between the officially declared data and Peevski's lifestyle.
In the report, Demerdzhiev also refers to information presented by him at a hearing in the National Assembly on July 2, regarding the MP's flights on private jets in recent years. Among the destinations mentioned is Dubai. The minister claims that there is evidence that some of the trips were paid for by third parties and raises the question of whether these expenses were duly declared.
Peevski, for his part, stated after the information was released that no public funds were used for his trips. According to the information provided at the time, six of the flights were paid for by the law firm “Angelov, Andreev and Partners“.
On August 5, the Court of Auditors initiated proceedings to establish a possible conflict of interest with respect to Peevski. The investigation covers the last three years and must establish whether there are grounds for a conflict of interest, as well as verify the circumstances set out in the report. The institution has a three-month deadline to conclude the proceedings, which may be extended in the event of factual or legal complexity.
The Court of Auditors specified that until the formation of the new Commission for Combating Corruption, the institution continues to carry out checks on asset declarations and consider reports of conflict of interest in accordance with the transitional provisions of the new anti-corruption legislation.