site.btaUPDATED Calls Mount for Swift Answers, Hearings in Petrohan Case

Calls mounted on Tuesday for swift clarification and parliamentary hearings in the Petrohan case, after six people were found shot dead in Northwestern Bulgaria and questions were raised about an entity registered as the National Protected Areas Control Agency (NPACA).

Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) Floor Leader Hairi Sadakov said the case was “shocking” and that “a very rapid response from the authorities is needed,” because “the public expects things to happen faster.” “We are calling on the responsible institutions to provide swift answers to the public,” he said, adding: “The public cannot wait.”

Outgoing Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev has asked the Registry Agency to review NPACA’s registration and to check other entities with names that could resemble state authorities. Interior Minister Daniel Mitov said “the work of the relevant departments of the Interior Ministry will also be examined and analyzed” over claims circulating in the media and online.

Yes, Bulgaria said it is proposing amendments to the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act and the Commerce Act “so that the prohibition on using names resembling those of administrative bodies and state authorities is clearly regulated,” arguing that such an entity “should not have been” allowed to register, but “unfortunately the law permits it.”

Continue the Change leader Assen Vassilev said SANS and the Prosecution Office have “slept through the case,” adding: “Nothing is clear.” “I do not know what the truth is, but I see that three different institutions… have put forward five different versions within four days,” he said.

Vazrazhdane's parliamentary group said it has requested a National Assembly hearing of the heads of all institutions working on the case, insisting on clarifying “the facts and circumstances under which the six deaths occurred,” including “the actions taken or not taken by state bodies” and any private financing and oversight.

Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) leader Atanas Atanassov submitted a request for a joint closed-door meeting of the parliamentary Internal Security and Public Order Committee and the Security Services Control Committee over the case. He proposed hearing from Interior Ministry Secretary General Miroslav Rashkov and acting SANS chair Denyo Denev “given the sensitivity of the information and the need for institutional clarity,” arguing the hearing is necessary amid “growing public distrust” and Parliament’s duty to exercise “effective parliamentary control” in high-stakes cases.

There Is Such a People leader Slavi Trifonov accused Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) of reacting “frightened and panicked” to the Petrohan case and using the six violent deaths to justify tighter control over NGOs. He targeted draft amendments tabled by CC-DB Deputy Floor Leader Bozhidar Bozhanov to the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act and the Commerce Act, alleged CC-DB figures receive NGO funding and channel state money to the same organisations, and said an NGO had been allowed to register as the National Protected Areas Control Agency while Nadejda Iordanova was justice minister.

Trifonov also criticised DSB leader Atanas Atanassov’s push for a joint closed-door parliamentary hearing with SANS and the Interior Ministry, blamed the security vacuum on decisions he attributed to former interior minister Boyko Rashkov, and claimed CC-DB wants President Iliana Iotova to appoint BNB Deputy Governor Andrey Gurov as caretaker prime minister to “swipe everything under the rug” ahead of elections.