The case with Ceyhan Ibryamov right from the beginning provoked doubts that it was not about justice, or at least not in the way it should be applied. You have also presented facts that provide evidence for these doubts. What does this case tell us?
Andrei Yankulov: On the basis of public information, it clearly appears that there is a serious violation of the law related to both the initial arrest and the continuation of this detention. If we refer to the official documents, it is still illegal. This investigation took place without him being immune. These circumstances indicate some very serious violations of the law.
What are they?
Andrei Yankulov: The initial detention is illegal in my opinion, because in order to detain a person with the immunity of a representative of the people without prior permission of the parliament or its speaker, the hypothesis of the so-called found crime. It requires contingency or chance. From the public information, it can be seen that the situation is not like that at all - preparations are being made to capture him, with marked money, etc. This fact excludes welding. In the case of subsequent detention, there must be permission from the parliament or its president, which follows from a decision of the Constitutional Court (CC) from 1992. The third major problem is that investigative actions against the individual which contain an element of coercion or in any way affect his rights cannot be carried out under available immunity. In this case, it happened exactly like that.
What does all of this mean for how this case will play out from here on out?
Andrei Yankulov: From the point of view of the criminal proceedings themselves, for me, these violations at the beginning of it will lead to the fact that the initially collected evidence is excluded, since it was collected by illegal actions against a person with immunity. As a result, the case will obviously be lighter. Most likely, it will end in a standard way for this type of criminal proceedings, where we see something else behind the supposedly formal goals.
We are observing a series of actions and decisions of institutions directed against those close to Ahmed Dogan - from activists of his party, to individuals such as Rumen Gaitanski, considered to be close to him. These actions meet the wishes and needs of Delyan Peevski.
Andrei Yankulov: As well as the actions of the prosecutor's office, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the local level against some people who take Dogan's side in the fight between Peevski and Dogan. We have received several such information about people against whom such proceedings are being conducted.
The explanation for these actions, which coincide with the interest of Mr. Peevski, is that it is either a long series of random events, which seems quite improbable, or that, which is more likely purely logical, there are some connections hidden dependencies and contacts, as a result of which institutions act in sync with his wishes.
These suspicions have been going on for years. The inclusion of the former interior minister Kalin Stoyanov in the lists of "DPS - New beginning" is it not a litmus for them?
Andrei Yankulov: At the latest, from the moment when the replacement of Kalin Stoyanov was requested by those who nominated him for this post, his behavior showed manifestations of this same synchronicity. The most logical thing left after he was released is for him to join Mr. Peevski's political camp. I don't see any surprise, but another proof of these connections and dependencies.
What do you expect from politicians who claim to be fighting the so-called model "Peevski"?
Andrei Yankulov: It would be most logical for the main parliamentary groups to take a serious view of these very worrying data, giving grounds to believe that it is about an illegal arrest and illegal prosecution of Ceyhan Ibryamov. The most normal thing is to take such an attitude from the biggest political force and its leader, Boyko Borisov, who himself claims how repressed he is by such an illegal arrest. Let him now comment on this illegal arrest.
There are very serious concerns about the repeated use of the repressive organs of the state to fulfill political orders. Parliament should take a stand, especially when it comes to a representative of the people. This thing cannot be left for another parliament or for after the elections.
What about this "string of coincidences", which coincides with the interests of Delyan Peevski?
Andrei Yankulov: There are a number of steps that need to be taken - renewing the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council, continuing actions to reform the justice system and, in particular, the criminal justice system. Many questions remained unresolved after the SC decision. Additional questions are raised about what the next reform should look like in order not to crash again in the CoC.
We have an anti-corruption commission, for which the powers were reformed on paper, but there is no change in terms of its composition. These new powers are exercised by an old leadership. There are no rules by which to elect a new composition of the anti-corruption commission. Composition to put the actions of this commission on another plane. The actions of the anti-corruption commission at the moment fully correspond to the agenda set by these behind-the-scenes dependencies that we are commenting on. If we want to break down this model, these are the first steps that must be taken. We cannot be optimistic about what will happen after the elections, because we see that even something as elementary as a serious reaction to the extremely disturbing data surrounding the arrest of Ibryamov is not happening. So no deeper action can be expected to be taken.
Andrei Yankulov is a lawyer and senior legal expert at the Anti-Corruption Fund. He is a former prosecutor in the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office.
Author: Alexander Detev