site.btaHead of Criminal Police Says He Was Not Pressured to Act Beyond His Duties in Petrohan-Okolchitsa Investigation

Speaking during a hearing in Parliament's debating chamber on Wednesday, Angel Papalezov, head of the Criminal Police Department at the National Police General Directorate, said that he did not feel pressured to act beyond his duties, nor were any instructions given to him regarding the investigation into the Petrohan and Okolchitsa cases in which six people lost their lives. Papalezov, along with senior officials from the Interior Ministry and caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev, was called to appear before Parliament following allegations that the minister had exerted pressure in connection with the two cases. The hearing was placed on the National Assembly's agenda at the request of There Is Such a People.

Papalezov said that on February 22 he received a phone call from Minister Dechev requesting a summary of developments in the investigation and the operational search activities in the Petrohan and Okolchitsa cases. Papalezov said he immediately informed his direct superior, Emil Parmakov, and asked him to notify the leadership of the directorate about the planned meeting.

“In my conversation with Parmakov and [National Police General Directorate Director Zahari] Vaskov, we clarified that the information I could provide to Minister Dechev would be a summary of what had already been presented at the two briefings - information that was public and approved for disclosure by the supervising prosecutor,” Papalezov said. In his words, the meeting took place at the Niagara restaurant and lasted between 10 and 15 minutes. During that time, he presented the summary but received no further instructions concerning the investigation or the actions of the operational officers and investigators. “The only instruction I was given was to ensure that those working on the two cases were present at the Ministry of Interior the following day so that we could provide him with additional updates on the progress of the investigation,” Papalezov added.