„Don't play with political peace! They are playing with fire!“. This was stated by the mayor of Belitsa Radoslav Revanski upon entering the courtroom in Burgas, quoted by novini.bg.
The court is considering the prosecutor's request for his permanent detention in custody, as well as that of the mayor of Sungurlare Dimitar Gavazov.
The two are accused of criminal conspiracy and trading in influence. The regional leader of the MRF, Hristo Shirokov, who is under house arrest in another case, is also accused. According to the supervising prosecutor Miroslav Iliev, the investigation covers public procurement contracts worth around 7 million euros in the municipality of Sungurlare. These include street construction and renovation of public buildings.
The prosecution claims that the three had assigned roles. Shirokov made the initial contact with companies that wanted to participate or had already participated in the procedures. Gavazov influenced members of the municipal commissions to rank a certain candidate, and Revanski provided assistance in financing the projects. “Between 25% and 35% of the value of the public procurement contract should have been paid by the person or company that won“, said Miroslav Iliev, reported bTV.
According to him, the investigation must establish what amounts were actually paid and whether the money remained only with the accused, or was used for other purposes. A financial audit of the municipality and expert assessments to determine possible damage to the budget are pending.
The prosecutor specified that the public procurement of the Belitsa municipality is not the subject of these proceedings. In front of the Burgas Courthouse, relatives and supporters of Dimitar Gavazov gathered for a silent protest in his support.
Among them was Petar Mushiev, chief expert on "Operational Programs and Projects" in the Sungurlare municipality. He stated that he should have been questioned the day before as a key witness. Mushiev claims that he was pressured and denies that there were any violations in the public procurement. The mayor's sister Magdalena Gavazova described the accusation as fabricated in order to arrest the two mayors.
The deputy regional leader of the MRF Merim Dervish also stated that in her opinion this was a political order and pressure from "Progressive Bulgaria". When asked if she had seen Revanski in Sungurlare, she answered in the negative. Dervish also said that she did not know of a company associated with him winning public contracts in the municipality.
Over the phone, Hristo Shirokov posed the questions from the MRF's position: “Who did Radev arrest and who does he fear? Is this a showdown with MRF voters?“. He linked the actions against the accused to the party's stated intention to shed light on alleged corruption schemes of “Progressive Bulgaria“ and the “Radev-Koprinkov“ model.
Meanwhile, MRF announced that it would refer the matter to the prosecutor's office for allegations of pressure from the director of the “Customs“ Agency; Nikolay Shushkov on Revanski to switch to “Progressive Bulgaria“ in exchange for political protection. The party also wants an investigation into a possible connection with his arrest.