site.btaCC Leader Vassilev Criticizes Authorities for Way of Handling Petrohan Mystery Deaths Case

What has become clear over the past few days is that the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the Prosecution Office have “slept through the case”. There were signals and an investigation that ended in December, without it being clear what it led to, said here on Tuesday Continue the Change (CC) leader Assen Vassilev, speaking to journalists in connection with the Petrohan mystery deaths case. 

On February 2, three bodies with gunshot wounds were found in the area of a mountain lodge near the Petrohan Mountain Pass (Northwestern Bulgaria). Subsequently, three more people were declared wanted, all of them linked to a non-governmental organization whose members had been staying at the Petrohan hut. A few days later, the wanted individuals were also found shot dead in the area of Okolchitsa Peak. 

According to Vassilev, what is currently emerging is a rather “ugly picture.” “SANS and the Prosecution Office did not intervene in time and are now putting forward a variety of theories, while the Interior Ministry is contradicting SANS and the statements made by the acting Prosecutor General. Nothing is clear. The aim is to cover up the fact that they did not do their job,” Vassilev added. 

The CC leader denied knowing the organization “National Protected Areas Control Agency ” or its activities. 

There was a memorandum, not an agreement, between the Ministry of Environment and Water and this organization, Vassilev also said in reference to the activities of former environment minister Borislav Sandov in the Kiril Petkov cabinet. 

As far as he understands, the organization is registered in the Commercial Register, and the latest check has shown that there are more than 60 organizations with similar names in the court and the register, granted over the past 20 years. 

According to him, it is not troubling that Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev donated funds to the organization, as he has done so for several hundred organizations. What is being seen now is an “absolutely vile attack” to cover up the fact that SANS and the Prosecution Office have not done their job, the CC leader stressed. He recalled that former prime minister Nikolay Denkov had requested the resignation of SANS chair Denyo Denev, and that the President at the time did not agree to sign it. Vassilev also noted that CC–DB have long been calling for the resignation of Borislav Sarafov from the post of Prosecutor General as well. 

There have been submitted signals, and if there were irregularities, there were two years to carry out investigations, yet there have been no arrests—even now, after the tragedy occurred, he said. To conceal this inaction, they [the investigating authorities] have begun to throw various bombastic versions into the public domain that have nothing to do with the truth and contradict one another, Vassilev argued. “I do not know what the truth is, but I see that three different institutions - the Interior Ministry, SANS and the Prosecution Office - have put forward five different versions within four days,” he said. 

He recalled that CC–DB have already requested a hearing of the outgoing interior minister and the declassification of all documents related to the case. According to Vassilev, traces are currently being covered up.