Report to the Prosecutor’s Office and the European Parliament

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov Provided Cover-Up for Illegal Drug Trafficking between Bulgaria and Turkey

The Association of Free Speech „Anna Politkovskaya“, winner of the International Award for Human Rights „Golden Dove,“ have sent a report to the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek and Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev, requesting initiation of a pre-trial procedure with submission to the Court of an indictment against Boyko Borisov, current Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

The request was made by the members of the public council of the human rights association Petar Penchev and Atanas Chobanov – editor of the site for investigative journalism „Bivol“, after it became known from reports of two news agencies that a witness testified publicly on November 25, 2011, in a Bulgarian Court, about tampering with the law, committed by Boyko Borisov.

The human rights activists cite the report of the “Focus” news agency on a public hearing in another case in the Shumen District Court, where the defendant in the trial, codenamed „The Killers,“ Vasil Kostov AKA Ketsa (The Sneaker), spoke about relations of Boyko Borisov with the SIC group (allegedly one of Bulgaria’s two powerful mafia structures, along with VIS, in the 1990s). Kostov had been present at a meeting held in the Vienna garden near the monument of Vasil Levski in Sofia, which involved Bay Mile, Sreten Jocic, Boyko Borisov, Stoil Slavov and possibly Ventsislav Stefanov. There, the SIC bosses have discussed how to raise money to make Boyko Borisov Chief Secretary of the Interior. Kostov was also at another meeting of the SIC bosses, immediately after the murder of Poli Pantev, where they have fought for his inheritance of 80-100 million dollars. During the meeting “Zhenyata” and brothers Pehlivanovi have refused to give more than 10 million, but it had emerged that Boyko Borisov had brigade to exert pressure on them. Vasil Kostov – Ketsa further said that Boyko Borisov was responsible for the channel for heroin trafficking from Turkey to Bulgaria and Captagon and synthetic drugs in the opposite direction.

Citing another agency – „CROSS,“ with the clarification that the defendant is charged with participation and leadership of an organized crime group, premeditated murder and arson, Pentchev and Chobanov come to the conclusion that the testimony given under oath at the Shumen District Court on November 25, 2011, can be construed as true, especially when Bulgarian citizen Vasil Kostov is facing the magistrates after pre-trial criminal proceedings by the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office. And because these facts do not directly relate to the case tried by the Shumen Court, the magistrates in this Court will not have a ruling on them, thus it is imperative that they are examined by another court, after the filing of another indictment by the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office, the human rights activists believe.
As further evidence, NGO representatives point out that this scheme of criminal violations of the law – through such „channel of heroin from Turkey to Bulgaria and Captagon and synthetic drugs in the opposite direction“, is described in testimony of Vanyo Tanov, former Head of the Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime (GDBOP) (Tanov’s data were intercepted by GDBOP by the use of special surveillance devices) before the Internal Affairs Committee of the 40th General Assembly (internet link at http://www.balkanleaks.eu/en/shorthand-bg.html?start = 13). This admission of the ex-Chief of GDBOP is giving grounds for an indirect, analogical confirmation of the facts revealed by Vasil Kostov before the Shumen Court on November 25, 2011, the authors of the report state.
The human rights activists suggest to the prosecution to further focus on other legitimate witness testimony before a Court abroad – on April 7, 2009, before the Belgrade District Court notorious drug kingpin Sreten Jocic, better known as Joca Amsterdam (also indicated by Vasil Kostov before the Shoumen District Court) stated that at the time when he was in Bulgaria, he was protected by the Chief Secretary of the Interior, Boyko Borisov. There is similar testimony under oath in a Serbian Court a year and a half later – on November 30, 2010, protected witness against Sreten Jocic – Tomislav Marjanovic, admitted that „Boyko Borisov, at the time when he was Secretary of the Police, was the man in Bulgaria of Sreten Jocic and his right hand Slobodan Djurovic.“

Finally Penchev and Chobanov stress on very important evidence – the confidential report from June 5, 2006, sent by the American Embassy in Sofia to the U.S. State Department, which informs about alleged past relations of Boyko Borisov with serious methamphetamines smuggling (internet link http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/05/06SOFIA647.html). In this regard, the human rights activists draw the attention of the Chief Prosecutor and of the President of the European Parliament on the fact that information from the U.S. Secret Service SIMO has confirmed these allegations.

Pentchev and Chobanov further point at 7 articles with 19 paragraphs of the Penal Code on imprisonment up to 20 years for carrying narcotics across the country’s borders, as well as participation in an organized crime group, which they insist should be used in conducting criminal proceedings against the present Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov.

„We hope the European Parliament will monitor closely this violation of the law by the highest circles of political oligarchy in Bulgaria; testimony which was publicly disclosed in a Bulgarian court,“ Penchev and Chobanov conclude.

Association of Free Speech „Anna Politkovskaya“,

Winner of the International Award for Human Rights „Golden Dove“