site.btaInspectors to Check Prison Conditions Provided to Varna Mayor and Ex-Deputy Sofia Mayor

Inspectors will check the conditions in the prison where Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev and former deputy Sofia mayor Nikola Barbutov have been placed after their transfer from the custody of the National Investigation Service, Deputy Sofia City Prosecutor Angel Kanev said to journalists on Wednesday. He noted that places of detention are inspected every week.

Kanev's statement follows comments made earlier in the day by Kiril Petkov, former co-leader of the Continue the Change party, according to whom Kotsev and Barbutov have been placed in poor living conditions. Petkov stated that one of them has been housed with a sick person with Hepatitis B, while the other is staying at a temperature of 11 C.

Kanev said: "No one from the prosecutor's office can answer for whether the heating is working or not, but we can hold accountable the persons responsible for that." According to the Deputy City Prosecutor, over the years staff have been dismissed and punished who had allowed this type of violation. He said that under the rules of the law, the Prosecution Service is responsible for oversight of the implementation of measures of restraint and for supervision in places of detention.

"There is a specialized hospital for active treatment of persons confined in Sofia Prison. In addition to that, there is also a medical centre," Kanev added.