site.btaMovement for Rights and Freedoms MP Hamid Says Interior Minister Lies to Parliament

A report submitted by Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev shows that he lied to Parliament on July 2, Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) MP Hamid Hamid said on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Demerdzhiev formally submitted to the National Assembly a report on operational-search activities carried out by the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime at the Ministry of Interior.

Hamid said the report concerned “operational-search actions that were claimed to be mere checks, although these were actions against a person with immunity that could not lawfully be carried out and violated the Criminal Procedure Code and the Constitution”.

The report itself covers a much shorter period and contains no data on flights between 2018 and 2025, Hamid added. He said it also contained confusing information about the number of flights and the people involved. The report marked Peevski’s flights as “did not travel”, Hamid said. He added that it gave no reason for the checks.

There are two reports from the State Agency for National Security containing Passenger Name Record (PNR) information. “We said that this was a crime, and this report confirms that crimes were committed for which those responsible must be held accountable,” Hamid added.

During a hearing in Parliament on July 2, Demerdzhiev said that the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime had established that Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Delyan Peevski and Constitutional Court judge Desislava Atanasova travelled together on a flight from Sofia to Dubai on April 5, 2024. A day later, Atanasova denied the claim.

In 2021, Peevski was designated by the United States under the Global Magnitsky Act for corruption and influence peddling. The US authorities described him as an oligarch who had “regularly engaged in corruption”, including through influence peddling and bribes to shield himself from public scrutiny and exert control over key institutions and sectors in Bulgaria. Peevski is challenging the designation in a US court, with his lawyers arguing that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by their client. In 2023, the United Kingdom also sanctioned Peevski over alleged attempts to exert control over key institutions and sectors through bribery and the use of his media empire.