„The Ministry of Interior is in the process of purging employees for whom there is evidence of addiction“. This was stated in a special interview for “Wake up“ by the Chairman of the Committee on Internal Security and Public Order in Parliament and former Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Petar Todorov.
According to him, a completely new Law on the Ministry of Interior is being prepared, which should introduce mechanisms to limit political influence in the system and for stricter control over employees. “The political influence in the Ministry of Interior is enormous and, unfortunately, has increased especially in recent years“, said Todorov. According to him, people with economic dependencies, compromising materials and political ties have been promoted to leadership positions in the system.
Among the planned changes is that when applying for a job in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, employees will have to pass an integrity and polygraph test. It is also planned to introduce a term of office for senior management positions, similar to the practice in SANS, DAR and DATO.
An integrity test will also be required for every promotion of an employee in the system. If the candidate fails to pass it, he will not be promoted.
It is also planned that managers will be obliged to initiate an investigation in the event of any signal against an employee. Todorov stressed that if there is evidence of a crime, the materials should be handed over to the prosecutor's office, and when there is not enough evidence for pre-trial proceedings, disciplinary action, including dismissal, should be sought.
“Our priority task is to purge employees from the Ministry of Interior for whom there is evidence, and to remove them after the relevant procedures. And not just move them from one place to another“, he said.
The plans are for the law to be submitted for consideration during the next parliamentary session.
The action in “Dragalevtsi“
Todorov also commented on the action in the capital's “Dragalevtsi“ district, during which a jamming device was discovered. According to him, the version of whether information about the actions of the services was leaked in advance to people connected to the site should also be checked.
According to him, expert examinations are pending, which should establish whether the entire device was discovered during the operation or whether parts of it are missing. Todorov emphasized that in his opinion there should no longer be “untouchable persons“ in Bulgaria.
The GPS device from “Dragalevtsi” - discovered after jamming the radio frequencies of a plane landing in Sofia
How did Petyo Petrov-Euroto manage to escape?
The former Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also returned to the operation years ago to detain Petyo Petrov-Euroto in the same facility in “Dragalevtsi“.
According to him, the operation was organized and conducted by the Directorate for the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism and there was operational information that Petrov was there. However, he was not discovered.
Todorov said that he could not say whether there was a leak of information at that time. He recalled that the then acting Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev had ordered an investigation into the case, but its results were not publicly announced. One of the explanations given to Todorov was that there was a secret tunnel in the site that the GDBOP officers were unaware of and did not secure.
Why were there patrols in front of the “Eight Dwarfs“?
Todorov also commented on the information about police patrols that were standing in front of the site, connected to the “Eight Dwarfs“ restaurant.
He stated that during the time he was the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a check was ordered for police officers who were standing in front of the site. The officers were removed from the schedule and disciplinary action was taken against them. The explanation was that the place was convenient for a checkpoint and that is why the patrols often stayed there. According to Todorov, this explanation was not credible.
According to him, the merging of the influence of criminal groups and state structures creates conditions for the draining of state resources and the establishment of organized criminal structures.
Todorov: The Prosecutor's Office must show will
According to the chairman of the internal parliamentary committee, the results in a number of landmark cases also depend on changes in the prosecutor's office and the election of a new Supreme Judicial Council and Prosecutor General.
He stated that the Ministry of Interior continues to collect information on various cases, but it is necessary for the prosecutor's office to show will to work on them.
Todorov assured that the procedure for electing a new SJC is being conducted transparently. According to him, there are already 26 nominated candidates, and MPs are also about to nominate their candidacies.