site.btaFormer Varna Deputy Mayor Ivanov Says He Did Not Implicate Mayor Kotsev in Crime

Former Varna deputy mayor Dian Ivanov wrote on Facebook on Monday: "I have already stated that my testimony before the Anti-Corruption Commission was given under pressure and threats. I want to make it absolutely clear: I did not implicate the Mayor of Varna, Blagomir Kotsev, in committing a crime. Any attempt to cast my words as an accusation is manipulation."

Blagomir Kotsev, who was elected mayor of Varna on the ticket of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, was arrested on the night of July 8 following a corruption tip-off by a failed public procurement tenderer. On the same date, the prosecuting magistracy announced that the Anti-Corruption Commission had launched an operation in Varna under the supervision of the Sofia City Prosecution Office. Along with municipal councillors Yordan Kateliev and Nikolay Stefanov, Kotsev was charged with abuse of office, bribery and money laundering.  The three were charged with attempting to extort the equivalent of 15% of a public procurement contract worth BGN 1,523,446 (excluding VAT) for supplying meals to schools and kindergartens.

Kotsev's arrest has triggered large-scale protests in Varna, Sofia and other major cities.

On May 5, former deputy mayor Dian Ivanov, once regarded as Kotsev’s "right-hand man", abruptly resigned from his post for "health reasons". Following his departure from Varna's municipal leadership, Ivanov became a witness for the Anti-Corruption Commission. In his testimony, he reportedly said that Kotsev instructed him to participate in the extortion of businesswoman Plamenka Dimitrova, the owner of a catering company. However, Ivanov later recanted his testimony, saying that he had given it under pressure from the Anti-Corruption Commission. He also stated that his testimony, besides being given under pressure, was untrue, and said he wanted to testify about the interrogation in the presence of a lawyer and before a judge.

On July 17, the Sofia Appellate Court upheld a ruling of a lower-instance court and left Kotsev along with municipal councillors Stefanov and Kateliev in custody on charges of corruption.

On September 12, the Sofia City Court rejected Kotsev's request to have his remand measure changed from detention to a lighter one and left him in custody. Judge Ani Zaharieva said that evidence in the case, both oral and written, provided reasonable grounds to believe the mayor was involved in the crime he was charged with. The judge said there was a risk that Kotsev might commit another offence.

The Sofia Appellate Court was originally due to review Kotsev's detention measure on September 18, but the judicial panel recused itself the day before. Appellate Judges Alexander Zhelyazkov, Atanaska Kitipova and Desislav Lyubomirov cited an unprecedented negative campaign targeting every judge involved in the case as the reason for their recusal. The panel said that "manipulative and false claims were being circulated in public, bearing no relation to the proceedings, with the sole purpose of suggesting that the cases are not of a criminal nature".

On September 19, Judge Georgi Ushev of the Court's second panel which was to review the pre-trial detention measure for Kotsev, also recused himself. He said that in recent years, lawyers from the law firm representing Kotsev had undertaken various actions, including filing a complaint requesting disciplinary action to be taken against him.