site.btaUPDATED Interior Ministry's Secretary General: Anyone Who Has Traded in People's Votes to Be Identified, Investigated, Brought Before the Law

Anyone who has traded in people’s votes will be identified, investigated and brought before the law, Interior Ministry's acting Secretary General Georgi Kandev wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

For the trampling of democracy, there is no statute of limitations, Kandev stated. He announced that he will continue to provide information on cases related to election offences, without concealing parties and coalitions, as the law required during the election campaign.

"On election day, we received a report from the village of Konyavo, Kyustendil Municipality, about a man who had been offering EUR 30 to residents of the village to vote for political party No. 17 [the Movement for Rights and Freedoms] on the ballot, with preference 101," Kandev reported. He added that the man has been identified, charged as a defendant and detained for a period of 72 hours. Pre-trial proceedings have also been initiated.

Kandev also said on Facebook that the court has issued a verdict in an election fraud case at the Regional Directorate of the Interior in Pleven (Northern Bulgaria). A woman with the initials I. T. was found guilty of buying votes for the April 19 elections, he specified. Her sentence under the Penal Code is one year of imprisonment, suspended for a three-year probationary period, as well as a fine of EUR 5,100.

On Monday, Kandev said in a Facebook post that the Interior Ministry had done everything within its power to make the electoral process fairer and more secure. “I’m not claiming that we have managed to change everything. But I can say that we did not back down. We did not turn a blind eye. We did not give up,” Kandev added.