Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office: ‘No illegal eavesdropping on politicians’
The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office has terminated the pre-trial proceedings it initiated in reaction to media reports about alleged illegal eavesdropping on politicians, saying no evidence had been found, the Prosecutor’s Office said on July 19.
The investigation was conducted by the National Investigation Service, and established that there had been no breaches of the law by the State Agency for National Security, anti-organised crime directorate or the Internal Security Directorate at the Interior Ministry, the statement said.
“No use of special surveillance means intended for the secret collection of information for the purpose of wiretapping representatives of political parties has been established,” it said.
The statement said that the list of people subject to surveillance, submitted by the State Agency for National Security, had been checked against the list of candidates for the 45th National Assembly. No data had been found that the latter had been under covert surveillance, it said.
A check on the records regarding the anti-organised crime squad had found two requests for use of special surveillance in two pre-trial proceedings.
These proceedings involved the crimes of distribution of tobacco products without excise labels, and an organised crime group involved in the production and distribution of marijuana and amphetamines. After it was ascertained that the individuals were candidate MPs, the surveillance was called off and the materials reported to the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office.
The statement said that there had been specific checks on whether there had been covert surveillance of the President, Vice-President, former Prime Minister and caretaker Prime Minister. None had been found.
The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office had assigned the National Bureau for Control of Special Intelligence Means to check on the services using covert surveillance, which had found that no political leaders were under surveillance, the statement said.
(Photo: Nuno Fernandes/freeimages.com)
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