Following the corruption scandal in the Sofia Municipality, the dismissed Deputy Mayor Nikola Barbutov appeared in court. The magistrates decided to respect the prosecutor's request to keep him permanently in custody. Businessman Petko Rafailov also remains in custody, reports Nova TV. Sufficient evidence has been collected to substantiate suspicion of authorship.
According to the prosecution, there is no danger that Barbutov will go into hiding, but there is a danger that he will commit a new crime, since he has been found to have a persistent desire to influence regional administrations.
The recording that was leaked to the public yesterday, in which two men can be heard discussing corruption schemes, has once again caused a scandal. The prosecutor's office explained that they did not receive it from the Anti-Corruption Commission, even though it was part of another pre-trial proceeding. They learned about it from the media and removed it from an online publication. An expert examination is to be conducted to determine whether it is authentic and whether it has been manipulated.
What happened in the last 72 hours has made Barbutov's defense see political motives. Repeated interrogation of the mayor of the “Lyulin” district Georgi Todorov shed light on the recording. “No special intelligence means were used in the case. This recording is not subject to special intelligence means”, explained the supervising prosecutor Doycho Tarev.
Todorov was categorical that he did not make the recording and did not know how it was leaked into the public domain. “But he confirms that he participated in this conversation, that one voice is his, and the other is that of the accused Barbutov. And that this was the content of the conversation”, Tarev added.
„I am very happy with this recording, even though I have not discussed its reliability, but this is what witnesses say - it has always been said that the law must be respected”, said Barbutov's lawyer Ina Lulcheva.
Many witnesses - including employees in the „Lyulin” district, mention a figure for whom the bribe money was intended, it became clear during the court hearing.
„The Tsar. One of the defendants explains that the Tsar is in fact the management of a political party, which is located on „Tsar Osvoboditel” Blvd., said the supervising prosecutor.
„To „The Tsar” is the office of the political party “We Continue the Change”. Of “Tsar Osvoboditel”, added Lulcheva.
The materials in the case do not contain any data on a single public procurement contract that has been completed since February, when the prosecutor's office claims that the criminal group was operating.
“From the way it is developing, from the organization of the actions, there is serious reason to believe that it is political”, believes the defendant's lawyer.