site.btaCaretaker Interior Minister Denies Meeting Investigators over Petrohan-Okolchitsa Case

Caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev told Parliament on Wednesday that he had not met with law-enforcers investigating the Petrohan–Okolchitsa case and that all other claims were untrue. Dechev was heard in Parliament following three reports alleging pressure exerted by him on investigators working on the case.

The item was included on the National Assembly’s agenda at the proposal of There Is Such a People.

Petrohan–Okolchitsa is a high-profile criminal case in which five men and a 15-year-old boy met a violent death between February 1 and 8. Their bodies were found in two remote mountain locations in Northwestern Bulgaria: a lodge near the Petrohan Pass and a camper van near Okolchitsa Peak. Forensic experts established that all six died of gunshot wounds. Law enforcement officials said the principal leads they followed, based on ballistics findings, the causes of death have been identified as suicide at the lodge and homicide and suicide in the camper.

“There is no way I could attempt to change the manner in which the two investigative teams are conducting the investigation,” Dechev said. He added that it was obvious that “there are frightened people” attacking him because they do not want him to learn the truth about the Petrohan case. Political and media speculation regarding his personnel decisions concerning officers working on the case emerged hours after he took office, he said.

Dechev noted that on Monday he spoke with the teams working on the investigation and told them that information about personnel changes or team replacements was untrue and that he had not raised the issue of seeking disciplinary responsibility. He assured the officers that he had not interfered and would not interfere in how investigators conduct the probe, which evidence they consider credible, or which versions they pursue or rule out.

He said that even before the second murder, "and possibly a suicide", had been uncovered, others had rushed to present their own version of events and offer “cinematic ideas” about what had happened, including references to theological issues.

“I insisted on a full, comprehensive and objective investigation into both cases,” Dechev said. The only thing he had asked of those he met on Monday was to establish the objective truth and to work on all possible versions, given the high public tension surrounding the cases. “As head of the Ministry, I have the right to familiarize myself with everything happening in the Interior Ministry. Otherwise, how am I to bear responsibility and answer to you if I do not know what is happening in my own department?” he asked.

Serious omissions had been identified in an Interior Ministry report, including cases in which an operative officer from the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime had met individuals linked to the victims and conducted interviews without filing written reports, Dechev said, adding that the Ministry would have to rely on the officer’s recollection of events.

“The only employees in the Interior Ministry to whom I cannot issue any orders are the investigating police officers. I have not met with investigating police officers and everything else that has been said is untrue,” Dechev emphasized.