The co-chairman of “Yes, Bulgaria“ Bozhidar Bozhanov and the MP from “We continue the change“ Lena Borislavova filed a report with the Supreme Prosecutor's Office for unlawful pressure on witnesses in politically motivated cases conducted against mayors and deputy mayors from PP-DB – Blagomir Kotsev (Varna) and Nikola Barbutov (Sofia).
The report recalls the statements of key witnesses — Sonya Klisurska and Dian Ivanov, that they were pressured to give false testimony not by anyone, but by employees of the Communist Party of Bulgaria. These allegations are available in the cases against the representatives of the PP-DB, but the investigating institutions refuse to notice them.
According to Klisurska's appeal to the court on her remand, she was pressured to “speak” against Nikola Barbutov and Petar Rafailov, and after her refusal she was brought in as a defendant. “From the conversations with the investigators, it became clear that they needed a ‘witness’. When I categorically refused, they used me as a third party – "just like that, for filler, to formulate the accusation of a criminal group, even though the participants don't even know each other," she states.
The former deputy mayor of Varna, Dian Ivanov, who publicly retracted his testimony, says that he was personally threatened by Anton Slavchev, who told him: "I listen to you and I follow you, I know your mother's milk." I will lock you up for nine months, and when you get out, your children will not recognize you if you do not speak and write what you are told.“
After his refusal to sign false statements, he was told that what he signed would determine whether he would remain a witness or be brought in as a defendant.
“The CPC acts as an instrument for political pressure on the opponents of Borisov and Peevski, instead of as an independent body for combating corruption“, said Bozhidar Bozhanov.
For her part, Lena Borislavova commented: “If in any of the cases against the mayors and deputy mayors of the PP-DB there is evidence of an indisputable crime, then this is the crime committed by the CPC employees and Anton Slavchev – who force witnesses to testify falsely to serve the political interests of their masters.“
The PP–DB urges the prosecutor's office to immediately conduct a full and impartial investigation into the actions of the CCP.